


Cursed Ice and Curious Implications

by Pierulestheworld



Series: A Gift and a Curse [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (Video Game)
Genre: Female Player Character (Hogwarts Mystery), Gen, Video Game: Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, hogwarts mystery rewrite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:08:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 44,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21755005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pierulestheworld/pseuds/Pierulestheworld
Summary: Lilith Brooks has gotten closer to figuring out the mystery of the cursed ice covering Hogwarts, but she isn't any closer to her true goal: finding her brotherA Hogwarts Mystery rewrite featuring my MC. Year Two.
Relationships: (hinted), Penny Haywood/Player Character (Hogwarts Mystery)
Series: A Gift and a Curse [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1467043
Comments: 7
Kudos: 33





	1. Summer with Jenny

**Author's Note:**

> The sequel~!

The summer she had been so hopeful about crashed around Lili’s head on the second day. She knew she was being stupid for considering it ruined for that reason, but between being home with her mother and researching the Cursed Vaults, finding out that Jenny had made friends with two girls who went to her secondary school hurt.

Lili really did know it was a stupid reason to get upset. It wasn’t like she wanted Jenny to be friendless and rely on her forever, and it’s not like Lili herself hadn’t gone away and made friends of her own, but she was still irrationally upset. She had expected her life in the Muggle world to stay the same in the time she was gone, but it had changed just as radically as her life in the wizarding world.

At least the other two girls were nice. Nicole was much taller than most girls their age, with tan skin, thick glasses, and dirty blonde hair she always wore in the latest style. Currently, it was shoulder length, feathered outwards, and covered in bows. Laila was smaller than even Lili, with pretty golden-brown skin and shiny black hair. Laila’s large jumpers and awkward smiles reminded Lili of Rowan for a second, but then Laila spoke and the reminder went away. Rowan was awkward and bookish and talked too much, while Laila was quiet but sports and fashion obsessed.

All three of her Muggle friends were, in fact. Jenny had always been into fashion, and Lili had been too before her family fell apart, but Jenny liking sports was new. Apparently, Nicole had brought her to a fencing class after they met, and Jenny fell in love with poking people with a sword. It baffled Lili, but she dutifully asked her mother to pay for lessons to be with her friends regardless. The lessons weren’t that bad, even if she didn’t understand why her friend had become obsessed with this Muggle form of dueling.

Whatever else she thought about fencing, Lili went to the practices for her friends, and found it good practice for when she would restart her search for the Cursed Vaults in the fall. Fencing helped her stay focused on what was around her, and helped her reactions. She could do without the outfit, but it was a decent way to spend her summer.

When not with Jenny, Nicole, and Laila, Lili was writing to Rowan and Ben.

Ben was the easier one to send mail to, but it took longer to get his replies. They had decided that sending things the Muggle way would be easier for them. That meant, however, having to wait for the mail to be picked up then shipped all the way from London to Newcastle upon Tyne.

He had suggested using the phone, but Lili’s house didn’t have one. Her mother didn’t use magic in the house that frequently, but she used it just enough that more complex electronic items like phones and televisions bugged out enough to be considered useless. It was easier to not own them, to Lili’s despair. She missed being able to watch Doctor Who in her own living room. (She also missed when Doctor Who was good, but that was a problem out of her hands.)

Rowan’s letters came more quickly by owl, but the problem there was that Lili and her mother didn’t own an owl. Lili was gone most of the year while her mother travelled frequently, so keeping one at home wasn’t necessary. Her mother borrowed an owl from work if she needed one, but Lili was stuck. They ended up deciding that Lili would keep Rowan’s owl overnight as she wrote her reply. The owl was mostly self-sufficient, but waking up to hoots in her ear at three in the morning got old quick.

In between writing about what they were doing, Lili and Rowan exchanged news on what they had managed to learn about the Cursed Vaults.

Rowan sent:

_I haven’t found anything to do with an Ice Knight yet, but I’ve been studying all about the staircases in Hogwarts! Would you believe there are several books out there devoted to that sole subject? You really can find anything at Flourish and Blotts._

_There are 142 staircases in Hogwarts, and most of them move around, but there have been cases of staircases disappearing and never being seen again. Perhaps that is what the message meant by Vanished Stairs? Stairs that were once there, but aren’t anymore for some reason. I’ll see if I can find out more about the missing stairs._

_Have you gone into your brother’s room yet?_

Lili wrote back:

_No, I really can’t believe there are several books related to the staircases of Hogwarts. You’d think they would find something more interesting to write about! It’s Hogwarts! There’s a ton of interesting stuff there._

_But that is a good find. We can’t rule anything out. My grandmother keeps every copy of the Daily Prophet she receives, and I suffered through a trip to her house to read the articles that were related to Jacob’s expulsion. I didn’t find anything new which was disappointing, but it was…..interesting to see how people reacted. It took a lot to get through the articles._

_I have not. I will soon, I swear._

Rowan wrote back:

_There are so many books on Hogwarts, you’d be surprised what weird topics you’ll find books on. I found a 600 page one about a specific mold that grows in only one room in Hogwarts, for example. Now, that’s obscure and uninteresting! It was such a fun read!_

_I wish I could’ve looked through those for you, I know it would bring back bad memories. We can talk about it if you want? I find talking about hard things is much easier when you write them down instead of saying them out loud._

_But I haven’t gotten much more into the disappearing staircases. There doesn’t seem to be much on them since no one can study them because, well, they’ve disappeared. I’ll keep going through my books on the staircases of Hogwarts, though. I’ve only gotten through two so far, and have three left!_

_You should. I don’t want to be pushy, and it’s unlikely he left anything related to the Cursed Vaults behind, but even if there’s a small chance he did, we should take it._

Lili knew Rowan was right. But she didn’t feel emotionally prepared to go into Jacob’s room and search through his things. Neither she nor her mother had touched anything in that room in almost three years. The only reason Lili ever went into his room was because Alfred, first Jacob’s cat and now hers, snuck into the room to sleep on the open chest in there. It had taken a lot out of her to read the half dozen Daily Prophet articles that focused on her brother. She didn’t think she could physically go through his things.

So, instead of doing what Rowan kept hinting she should do, Lili did literally anything else.

Fencing classes took up a lot of her time, being two hours of the afternoon for three days of the week, but she spent hours going to the stores with her friends, going on walks through gardens in the city, and even going on a day trip with Jenny’s family once or twice.

Lili knew Rowan was getting exasperated with her, but she didn’t care. She couldn’t go through Jacob’s stuff, not so soon after reading about people insulting him for getting expelled. She refused to believe he was any of the awful things people wrote about. They were stupid adults who had never met Jacob, and were just reacting to the headline ‘Student Expelled.’ They would have said those things about anyone.

She repeated that over and over to herself. It was her only comfort.

June and July soon passed, and alongside August came her new Hogwarts supply letter. Rowan had sent a long letter after that, giving a detailed summary of everything in the books given, all of which she had already read.

Lili laughed. That was so very Rowan.

Like the year before, she went to Diagon Alley on her own. It was a quicker trip; she didn’t need to stop by Ollivanders or Madam Malkins this time. She picked up her books and restocked on some potion’s supplies, and she was done shopping for school.

She did spend some time wandering through Diagon Alley, looking at the colorful storefronts this year. People seemed less likely to ask where her parents were as she neared thirteen, so she wasn’t accosted by any well-meaning adult as she eagerly window shopped.

August wore on, and letters from Rowan and Ben began to slow as they prepared for seeing each other face to face again.

She spent the morning of August 31st with Jenny, and Jenny alone. Lili would be leaving for Hogwarts tomorrow, so the two would be apart until the next summer holidays, while Jenny would see Nicole and Laila at school the next morning. The two wanted to spend this last bit of time together.

“So, how was your school?” Jenny asked suddenly. They were in Jenny’s room, reading trashy teen magazines.

“What?” Lili asked, looking up.

“You never really talked about that boarding school you go to. Is it that awful?” Jenny seemed genuinely concerned, and Lili’s heart broke as she figured out how to lie to her friend.

“No, it’s not that awful.” She paused, trying to tell Jenny what was going on without mentioning magic. “It’s just—Jacob went there too, you know? And I still went to school with people who had known him, not to mention the professors, and—” Lili looked back down. She rarely talked about Jacob, but Jenny was one of the few people she’d trust with the conversation. “I dunno. I’ve made friends, good ones like you made with Nicole and Laila, but there are so many reminders of him at the school. It feels like he’s haunting me, and I just wish he was physically there.”

_I want my big brother back_ , Lili wanted to cry, but she had been more honest than ever before already. She stared down at some horribly pink magazine page and willed herself not to cry. She succeeded, but barely.

She was telling Jenny a lie shrouded in the truth. She truly did feel like Jacob’s ghost had been haunting her when she had been at Hogwarts. She was Jacob’s sister first and her own person second. Everything she did was compared to him. And she hated it.

Lili loved her brother and her greatest wish was having him back, but she hated the legacy she had been given. She didn’t want to look for Cursed Vaults and get in trouble. She wanted to be normal, whatever that was for witches and wizards.

There was so much more she wanted to say, but she refused to. Maybe Rowan was right and she should write it down, but Lili didn’t particularly want to do that either. She wanted to keep all her feelings bottled in. Other people knowing how she felt made her uncomfortable.

A lengthy pause came between Lili and Jenny, and Lili felt bad. She didn’t want to ruin the last hang out for almost a year with her friend.

“Sorry, you can ignore all that.” Lili still hadn’t looked up.

“No, don’t be sorry. I was just trying to figure out what to say.” Jenny’s voice was odd. A bit confused, a bit sad, and a bit something else. “Figures that the one time I need to talk, I can’t blurt out any words.”

Both Jenny and Lili giggled at that. It didn’t ease the tension in the room much. “I don’t know anything about trying to live up to a disappeared brother, considering I haven’t got a brother, let alone one that’s missing, but who cares? You’ve never cared about people’s thoughts before, why care about them at your stupid school? Block out the noise.”

Lili finally looked up. Jenny looked very awkward. She probably hadn’t expected a simple question to lead to such a dark conversation. Lili decided to continue her half lies. Jenny didn’t need to know that she had heard the things said to her in primary school and felt bad then, too. Lili had always been good at appearing confident.

She nodded. “I’ll try.” Lili held up a magazine. “Can you believe this hair cut?”

Jenny laughed gratefully at the topic change. “It’s awful!”

Lili knew deep inside that the first break in their relationship had happened, but she wanted to remember the morning fondly and put the thought out of her mind.

-x-x-x-

She spent the afternoon of August 31st trying to psych herself up to go into Jacob’s room. Lili knew Rowan would give her a disappointed look if she didn’t at least attempt going into the room. She could always lie, but Lili didn’t like lying to her friends and wanted to avoid it for once.

To her surprise, her mother was in the kitchen when Lili came back from Jenny’s. Lili stopped short, unused to so suddenly seeing her mother.

“Lilith.” Her mother gave her the barest acknowledgement. “Your school starts tomorrow. Remember to be ready by 7:30. Do you already have everything packed?”

Lili didn’t flinch when her mother gazed at her. Carina Brooks had the same yellow green eyes as Lili, but her gazes were always so much more intimidating. “Most everything. Only the bathroom stuff is left because I need those in the morning.”

Her mother nodded, and turned back to her newspaper. “Good. Remember to wake up early. I won’t wait around like last year. You can go now.”

Lili left the kitchen gladly, scuttling away as quickly as she could.

That was the most Lili had talked to her mother in the past two months. Maybe even the past year, if Lili was being honest with herself.

Her mother had taken Jacob’s disappearance hard. Even three years later, she functioned only enough to work and spent the rest of her time shut up in her room crying about how horrible her life was. Lili had tried to comfort her once, but she had flown into a fit when she heard Lili’s voice. Scared of possibly being hit, Lili had run from the room, and left her mother alone to brood ever since.

Lili didn’t mind being left alone though. She had always had Jenny and her family, and she liked the independence that came with her mother not caring where she went. And now she had Hogwarts to look forward to, a place where she didn’t have to come home to her mother at the end of the day.

By now, she had had gotten up the stairs and to Jacob’s door. Hugging herself, Lili stared at it. How could one door make her so scared? She wasn’t even this scared of the Cursed Vaults.

She wasn’t sure how long she spent outside Jacob’s door, her arms wrapped around her body. She squeezed her arms tighter once, then took a deep breath and unwrapped her arms from herself. Lili opened the door and went in.

The room was the same as always. Same bunched up red rug, same messy bed, same open chest. All that was different was the amount of dust.

Lili went to his desk first. It was mostly bare; Jacob wasn’t a collector like her. There was a lamp on top and some books in one of the drawers— _Dreadful Denizens of the Deep, Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland_ , and _The Dragons of Europe_.

Lili took them out, curious. Jacob liked reading, but he had his own bookshelf. Why weren’t these three with his other books? Lili was alarmed to see two books about dragons. She really hoped that those were impulse buys, and there wasn’t a dragon Cursed Vault.

She flipped through them, but Jacob hadn’t written anything in the margins. Lili hadn’t expected him to. He had always been the type who was very strict about book care.

Lili put the books back, their titles memorized. None of the other drawers held anything she didn’t remember from before, so she moved on.

Under the bed was even dustier than the rest of the room, and didn’t turn up anything useful. The only thing she learned was the location of Alfred’s cat toy stash. She quickly grabbed those and dumped them outside the room before continuing her search.

Looking in all the drawers in his nightstand turned up nothing, as did looking in his bookcase and closet. Lili was suspicious of how empty everything was, more than if she had found anything. Jacob had never been a hoarder like her, but he had never been this spartan.

_He obviously took everything important with him_ , Lili thought, her heart sinking. _This is useless_.

She turned to the last thing in the room, his school chest he had never unpacked. Lili could barely make herself do it, but she gently sifted through his clothing, noting that a few items she remembered him wearing frequently were gone, and tried to see if he had maybe forgotten something with his school stuff.

As far as she could tell, he hadn’t. It had been a few years since she had seen most of Jacob’s things, but everything she saw in the trunk she was pretty sure Jacob had owned from before his expulsion.

Lili left the room emotionally burnt out. She had gone through her brother’s things and hadn’t found anything that would justify doing so. No clues beyond some books in a wrong location. She was shaking as she left, unable to believe she had moved around her brother’s belongings. She desperately hoped her mother never found out.

She went to bed that night feeling sick.


	2. Missing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So was someone going to tell me that drafts post on the day you drafted them and not the day you posted, or was I just supposed to find that out myself lol Anyways, chapter 2 so its not on the 2nd page of the HPHM tag

Lili felt better in the morning. The fact that she had gone through Jacob’s belongings still upset her, but her happiness at being back at Hogwarts lifted her spirits.

Packing her last few things, eating breakfast, and the car drive were all as silent as last year. Her mother hadn’t made breakfast that morning, but Lili ate some cereal and made herself a sandwich for the train.

They arrived at King’s Cross Station just after eight. The station was fairly busy, and Lili had to wait for a few other wizarding families to go through the wall at Platform 9 ¾ before she could.

Her mother said her goodbyes then.

“Be good, Lilith.”

She stared down at Lili, and Lili nodded. “Bye, Mum.”

Her mother nodded and walked away. Lili stared for a few seconds, before turning to look at Platform 9 ¾. A family of three were currently going through. She waited patiently another ten minutes, before running through the platform herself.

The wizarding side of the platform was slightly busier than it had been last year. Of course, she was slightly later this year than before. Still, she had arrived long before most people, and the train compartments were mainly empty.

She sat down with _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2_ as she waited for her friends. She tried to ignore that every time someone glanced into her compartment, they would start whispering to their friends about how that was the Cursed Vault kid. Lili remembered all the whispering that had plagued her at the end of last year and grimaced. She had been so euphoric at getting something in her quest done that it hadn’t bothered her too much then, but it was already starting to bother her now. Lili didn’t mind being in the spotlight, but she could do without the whispers and the rumours.

It took two hours for her first friend to arrive.

“Lili! I’ve been looking all over for you!”

Rowan burst into her compartment and Lili was immediately engulfed in a hug. Lili eagerly hugged her best friend back, having missed her immensely.

“—so nice to see you again! I mean, we’ve been writing all summer and writing is great and I love it, but it’s not the same as speaking face to face. Oh, I’ve missed you so much!”

They stayed wrapped around each other for another minute, Lili relishing in the human touch. Lili loved physical contact, and Rowan was the only person she knew who loved it just as much.

Eventually, they had to separate. It was awkward staying in that position in the cramped train compartment. Rowan sat across from Lili, beaming, before it morphed into a panicked expression.

“My trunk!”

Rowan had left her trunk outside the compartment and it had been kicked down the hallway by someone who was likely annoyed by it taking up the hallway space. Lili giggled as she helped Rowan drag it into their compartment, and soon Rowan was giggling too.

“I can’t believe I forgot it out there.”

Lili’s giggles turned into a full-blown laugh. “At least it isn’t super busy, and we’re in the back of the train. If we were in the front, we probably would’ve gotten a hex thrown at us.”

Rowan looked relieved. “That is a good point.” She adjusted her glasses and grinned as Alfred jumped into her lap, purring. “So, how was your summer?”

“I’ve told you all about my summer.”

“Yes, but that was in writing. Like I said before, it’s very different to hear of it in person.”

Lili snorted, but then drew somber. She looked down at her lap. “I went through Jacob’s room yesterday.”

Rowan gasped, and moved from being across from Lili to sitting next to her. She looped an arm through Lili’s, and Lili felt a brief but intense urge to cry. No one had ever tried before to comfort her on a subject they knew to be difficult for Lili.

The urge quickly went away, but Lili still gave the smallest sniffle.

“How’d it go?” Rowan gently asked.

“I didn’t find anything.” Lili admitted. “I think he took everything related to the Vaults with him when he left. The drawers were all so empty it went around from normal to suspicious.”

Rowan sighed. “I was hoping that would lead somewhere. I’m sorry for making you do it, Lili.”

Lili felt another rush of affection towards Rowan. “I did find one thing. Or three things.”

“Really?” Rowan perked up.

Lili nodded. “Three books. One on things that live under the water, and two on dragons.”

Rowan paled slightly. “You don’t think there’s a dragon in a Vault, do you?”

Lili grimaced at Rowan’s words. “I had the same thought, and I really hope not. I don’t want to get anywhere near a dragon?”

“Dragons?”

The two girls looked to the door at Ben’s voice. He squirmed slightly now that their attention was on him.

Rowan smiled. “Hey, Ben! How’s your summer been?”

Ben shrugged. “Much calmer than Hogwarts.”

The girls laughed at that, used to Ben’s anxieties.

He tentatively dragged his trunk in and sat across from the two girls. “Why were you talking about dragons? I almost thought Charlie was in here for a second.”

“Lili went through her brother’s room at home and found two books on dragons. We were really hoping it was just coincidence and that dragons have nothing to do with Cursed Vaults.”

Ben’s face fell. “Of course. The Vaults. You’re still going to look for those?”

Lili nodded. “We already opened one, so we need to find it properly and close it.”

He sighed. “Don’t suppose I could be left out of it?”

“If you don’t want to help us, you don’t have to,” Lili replied, mystified. Ben hadn’t done much research with them on the Cursed Vaults. He had only known about them for a few months. She had no idea why he was being so grumpy about them talking about it.

Rowan looked nervously between them. “How long until the train leaves?” She said abruptly, not at all being subtle with her subject change.

To Rowan’s credit, the tension in the compartment did lighten up, especially when they began to roll out of Kings Cross Station some thirty minutes later.

Last year, Lili and Rowan had shared their compartment with five boys, and had kept to themselves in a corner. This year, everyone took one look into their compartment, started whispering, and scuttled away, giving the two girls plus Ben a compartment to themselves. While Lili could do without the staring, she had to admit that having the whole compartment to the three of them was nice. She could stretch her legs onto the seat opposite and not get yelled at for being in some stranger’s space.

The only visitor to their compartment was a welcome one. The three of them had been going over what charms they would be learning, and flipping through their Charms textbook when a knock sounded on the compartment door. Lili looked over, and was beyond pleased to see Penny standing outside their door.

The blonde Hufflepuff beamed at them. “Hello! Do you mind if I sit with you for a while? I’m going around the train and saying hi to everyone I know.”

“Of course not!” Lili blurted out. “Sit anywhere.”

Ben scooched over and Penny cheerfully sat next to him.

“So, how did the holidays go for all of you?”

Lili recounted her fencing lessons, while Rowan babbled for twenty minutes about how she learned about carving magical wood from her uncle. Lili learned quite a bit about Penny when she started talking about her summer.

Penny, surprisingly, had a similar living situation to Lili in that her mother was a witch and her father was a muggle. Now the relationship between her parents was very different, as Penny’s mother was a Muggle-born who had been childhood friends with her husband, but Lili was excited to find something in common with her friend.

She also had a younger sister, one who was a few years off from going to Hogwarts.

“But she’s very excited,” Penny said earnestly, practically bouncing in her seat and shining with pride when they got to a story involving her sister. “She can’t wait to see what Hogwarts is like.”

She left after an hour or so to Lili’s disappointment. Penny was incredibly popular, and really did want to meet with all her friends before they got to Hogwarts. Lili liked how genuine Penny was about being friends with everyone, but she wanted Penny to stay with them the whole trip.

Before she left, she leaned forward, a gleam in her eyes. “Are you still going to be looking for the Cursed Vaults this year?”

Lili and Rowan nodded. “We’ve been doing research over the summer,” Rowan added.

Penny leaned back, grinning. “You wouldn’t need more help, would you? With potions, or something? Anything?”

Lili and Rowan giggled while Ben pouted.

“I don’t know yet, but you’re welcome to help whenever you want, Penny.” Lili smiled toothily at her friend. “You know where we always sit in the library to study and plan.”

Penny nodded, still grinning. “Last year was very dangerous, but very fun. I was hoping I could do it again this year.” She stood up. “I’ll be going then! See you three in class tomorrow!”

Lili and Rowan waved, and Penny was gone, off to chat with some new group.

The day wore on, and the train neared Hogwarts. An hour before they were meant to arrive, Rowan kicked Ben out to let her and Lili change, then let him inside to change. Soon enough, they arrived at Hogsmeade Station where it drizzled slightly.

“Do we take boats again?” Ben asked nervously. “I didn’t like those boats. Almost threw up.”

Lili stifled a giggle. Of course, he had. “I think we go by carriages.” She vaguely remembered Jacob mentioning carriages when he had come home for Christmas in his second year.

Rowan nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah! Carriages pulled by invisible creatures!”

Ben looked even more nervous than he had been about the boats. “Invisible creatures? There are invisible creatures at Hogwarts?”

“They’re harmless…probably.”

“Oh, _great_.”

At that moment, two boys tore through the crowd, pushing and shoving everyone out of their way. One shoved into Lili, knocking her into Rowan, and the other shoved Ben, making Lili lose sight of him.

It took Lili a second to get her bearings back. The crowd was muttering angrily and beginning to pulse as more pushing began. Lili clutched at Rowan’s arm like a life raft. “Where’s Ben? I saw him get shoved too.”

Rowan stood on her tippy toes and peer about, but it was no use. Even on her tippy toes, she was a head shorter than everyone around. Lili didn’t fare better in the height department. “I can’t find him,” she admitted with a frown. “We’ll see him at the feast I’m sure. Are you okay?”

They were finally getting to a thinner part of the crowd as they neared the carriages.

“I’m fine, I think.” She held a hand to her head. “Heads fine. Maybe a scraped elbow. Nothing serious.”

Rowan sighed in relief. “Oh, that’s good. I was worried for a second. Now, let’s go find a carriage.”

-x-x-x-

The Welcoming Feast felt different when you weren’t being Sorted. Without the nervousness of waiting to be placed, and without having to stand for the whole thing, you were more aware of your hunger and tiredness. The Great Hall itself was still awe inspiring, but Lili quickly became desensitized to the many things that were happening on its walls and ceiling.

Lili watched, bored out of her mind, as dozens of first years were Sorted. She couldn’t even talk to Rowan, as Rowan kept shushing her to watch the first years. Lili didn’t see the appeal. However, she kept her eyes on the Sorting, as looking the other way meant looking at Merula and Lili didn’t want her day to be ruined so close to its end.

She also tried to peer at the Gryffindor table, but she was too short to see over the heads of the older Ravenclaws that were between them. She hoped Ben had made it to the Great Hall okay.

Finally, all the first years were Sorted, and it was time for Dumbledore’s speech. The Headmaster was dressed in magenta and gold, and was smiling.

“Welcome! A welcome back to our older students, and a welcome for the first time to our younger ones. While at Hogwarts, be sure to focus on your studies, make as many friends as you can, and always be careful!” His smile dimmed the slightest bit as he grew more serious. “Especially as you traverse the castle this year, be sure to always check what’s in your way. If you see anything odd that isn’t the normal Hogwarts oddity, please immediately tell a professor. I’ll also take this moment to remind everyone that Mr. Filch has a sign with all the school rules on it outside his office, and that the Forbidden Forest is _forbidden_. And now, let’s eat!”

The food appeared on the tables, eliciting gasps from the first years, and Lili’s stomach rumbled.

“Finally!” She happily began scooping mashed potatoes onto her plate, while Rowan sampled some soup and bread.

The feast was delicious as before and Lili savored every bite, especially of the desert. She made sure to have two slices of the Black Forest cake.

She yawned as chatter began to increase and the sounds of eating decreased. She twisted around to see if she could find Ben at the Gryffindor table, but the Ravenclaws were again in the way. She couldn’t see anything outside black and blue and bronze.

Lili turned to Rowan. “Can you see Ben?”

Rowan half stood from the table for a second before sitting back down, shaking her head. “I can’t see over the Ravenclaws.”

“I couldn’t either,” Lili admitted, her stomach twisting. She was worried about Ben.

People were beginning to get up and leave.

She looked at Rowan. “Are you done eating?”

Rowan nodded. “Yeah. Are we going to go to the Gryffindor table?”

Lili grimaced and nodded. “Here’s hoping they don’t hex us on sight.”

They stood up, and an idea suddenly came to Lili. “Oh! Before we go, let me do one thing….”

She grabbed Rowan’s hand and hurried down the table, scanning faces until she saw who she was looking for.

“Felix! Hey Felix, you’d know the password for the common room, right?”

Felix looked like he didn’t want to acknowledge her and was forcing himself to do something very unpleasant as he turned to look at her. “Yes, I do know it. Why are you asking?” He frowned. “Don’t make Slytherin lose house points already.”

“What?” Lili felt very offended as Rowan giggled behind her. “That—no! I just needed to talk to a professor and didn’t know if I’d get the password before then.”

Felix sighed. “Fine. It’s Unbreakable. Now stop bothering me.”

Lili rolled her eyes, but did as Felix said and walked away.

“That was smart.” Rowan was smiling as they walked back down the aisle. “Are we talking to a professor, or was that a lie?”

“We will if we don’t find Ben.”

“You’re actually going to go to a professor for something?” Rowan sounded way too shocked.

“What’s that mean?” Lili looked over her shoulder, offended once more.

“It’s just, you usually like doing things on your own. I don’t think we went to a professor for anything last year.”

Lili sighed. “Yeah, well, the professors are going to notice tomorrow morning if Ben doesn’t show up to class. And it’s better to have more people looking for someone. They get found quicker that way.”

They had made it to the Gryffindor table, and to no one’s surprise, the lions were giving them dirty looks. Lili ignored them and peered at every person in red and black robes, trying to find a familiar face. She could tell Rowan was doing the same.

“I still don’t see him.” Lili was really worried now. Where could Ben be?

Going by Rowan’s expression, she hadn’t seen him either. “I see Charlie, and I know Ben hangs out with him when he isn’t with us. Maybe he’s seen him. Hey, Charlie!”

Rowan quickly walked over to a red headed boy who was Lili’s height and talking to another red headed boy who was most definitely not.

Charlie looked over, surprised. “Rowan, Lili. Uh, what are you two doing over here?” His eyes darted around nervously, taking in the glares his fellow Gryffindors were giving the two Slytherins.

“Have you seen Ben?” Lili didn’t want to waste any more time at this table.

He frowned. “I haven’t actually. I was wondering where he is. He usually finds me after he leaves you two.”

Lili exchanged a look with Rowan. “We haven’t seen him since we got off the train.”

The red head Charlie was talking to finally spoke up. “If he’s missing, you should talk to a professor about that. They’ll be able to find him quicker than any student could.”

“We were going to once we asked Charlie,” Lili said shortly, then paused. “Charlie and Penny. She might know.”

Rowan sighed. “Thanks for telling us you haven’t seen him, Charlie. We’ll go talk to Penny, then Professor McGonagall if Penny hasn’t seen him.”

Charlie nodded. “I’ll be sure to keep a look out for him.”

They hurried down the aisle as an older Gryffindor boy got up. His leg just so happened to stick out at an unnatural angle, causing Rowan to trip. She fell down with a yelp, and malicious laughter rose up from the Gryffindor table.

Lili felt anger rise up in her chest as she helped her friend up. Rowan was unhurt, but her face had gone red and Lili could see the tears glimmering in her eyes. Lili turned to glare at the older boy. “How very _chivalrous_ of you, picking on a girl half your size. I’m sure you’ll go far in the world, you bully. Come on, Rowan.”

She dragged her friend away as jeering continued from the Gryffindors.

“I—ow, Lili, my wrist.”

Lili guiltily let go of Rowan’s wrist. In her anger, she had been holding on too tightly. “Sorry about that. I was just—angry.”

Rowan rubbed her wrist. She was still looking down, but the tears seemed to be gone. “I figured. Let’s go see Penny.”

The Hufflepuff’s were kinder to two Slytherin girls walking around their table. Lili and Rowan received wary looks, but no jeers or bullying.

Penny smiled as she saw them approach. “Hey! What’re you two doing over here? The Slytherin table is on the other side of the room.”

“We wanted to know if you’ve seen Ben.” Lili said. “He’s been missing since we got off the train.”

Penny straightened and grew serious. “I haven’t seen him. I saw him in Hogsmeade Station, but that was only briefly, and he was in a crowd.”

“That’s where we lost him.” Lili rubbed the back of her head. “We got separated by the crowd and he got pushed in the opposite direction of us and we haven’t seen him since.”

“That’s horrible!” Penny’s eyes were wide, and Lili noticed that she would never get called bug eyed with that expression; even then she was too pretty. “If I see him, I’ll be sure to tell you. And I’ll get some friends to keep an eye out too.”

Lili smiled briefly. “Thanks Penny. We’re going to go talk to Professor McGonagall now.”

Penny nodded. “Good luck. I hope someone can find him soon.”

“I do too,” Lili sighed. “Bye, Penny.”

“Bye, Lili, Rowan.”

Lili and Rowan walked away, Rowan still looking upset. Lili looked at her friend. “Do you want to go to the common room? I can finish this myself.”

Rowan shook her head rapidly. “No! I’m worried about Ben too. Let’s just go quickly.”

The Great Hall was beginning to thin out. The first years had all left with their Prefects leaving behind anyone who just wanted to catch up with friends, or eat some more.

“How do we talk to a professor?” Lili stared at the raised dais they sat on. “Do we just stand below them?”

Rowan frowned. “I’m sure we’ll find out.”

“Not wrong,” Lili mumbled as they reached where Professor McGonagall was sitting.

The bespectacled professor peered down at them. “Ms. Brooks, Ms. Khanna. What do I owe the pleasure?”

Lili shifted nervously. “Have you seen Ben Copper, Professor?”

Professor McGonagall’s regarded them neutrally. “I have not. Is there something wrong with him?”

“We haven’t seen him since the train ride, and we were worried.” Lili told her. “He’s not the type to go running off on his own and we don’t know where he could be.”

“We wanted some help finding him,” Rowan said, finally speaking up.

If Lili had to say, she’d wager that Professor McGonagall was worried. The professors sitting around her, including Professor Dumbledore, all seemed to be listening in on the conversation, and they seemed worried or uncomfortable about what she was saying.

“Thank you for informing us of this, girls.” Lili shifted her attention back to Professor McGonagall. “We’ll start looking for Ben immediately. Now, you two go off to your dormitory. You have class in the morning.”

Lili opened her mouth, but Rowan tugged at her wrist.

“Thank you, Professor. Please tell us if you find Ben.” Rowan said, tugging Lili away.

“Of course. Now, off you go, down to the Slytherin dormitories.”

Rowan nodded, and Lili snatched her hand away to let Rowan know she didn’t need to be dragged to the dungeons. Rowan gave her an only slightly apologetic look. “I didn’t want you to argue with Professor McGonagall.”

Lili huffed. “Whatever. Let’s just hope the professors can find Ben.”


	3. School Begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brief reminder for the start of this chapter that Prof Talcifer is my oc who was Head of Slytherin before Snape since I still find it ridic he just immediately became Head of House after getting the job.

Ben still hadn’t been found when they went to breakfast the next morning.

As usual, Lili and Rowan had woken up early and hurried to the Great Hall before most people were out of their rooms. On the way up from the dungeons they had briefly peeked into the Artefact Room, a storage closet Ben liked to hide in when things made him too anxious, but Ben wasn’t there. He wasn’t an early riser, so when they didn’t see him already eating at the Gryffindor table, they weren’t too worried.

Professor Talcifer periodically came down from the professor’s dais to distribute schedules. As she handed Lili and Rowan theirs, Rowan asked the Ancient Runes professor if she had heard anything about Ben.

Worry grew when Professor Talcifer shook her head and told them to focus on their classes.

“They didn’t find Ben?” Lili whispered hotly as the Slytherin Head of House left. “I thought they said they would look?”

Rowan bit her lip. “There’s a great number of places to hide in Hogwarts. I’m sure it’d be hard to search everywhere. Oh, I hope Ben’s alright!”

Lili wanted to say that of course Ben was, but she didn’t know for sure. Ben was great at Charms, but he was only twelve and frightened of his own shadow. She was silent as she looked down at her school schedule.

It was similar to last year’s schedule, but without any flying class to Lili’s relief. One year of that class was enough.

“Monday’s and Wednesday’s will be hard,” she observed, trying to bring Rowan out of the funk she was in.

Rowan finally looked down at her own schedule. “Transfiguration then Potion in the morning, and Defense and Herbology in the afternoon. Well, if this year’s Defense professor is similar to last years, then it won’t be a hard class.” There was disapproval in her voice; Rowan hadn’t been fond of Professor Rees’s teaching style.

“Then let’s hope whoever the professor is this year does things differently.” Lili said, only half meaning it. She wanted better Defense Against the Dark Arts classes, but she also didn’t want more work. “You ready to sleep through Tuesday and Thursday afternoons?”

That got the reaction Lili was looking for. History of Magic was Rowan’s favorite subject and she absolutely detested how it was taught. Being taught history by a ghost sounded cool in theory, but was atrocious in practice, and nothing rankled Rowan as much as that. Rowan spent the rest of breakfast ranting about how she would teach a History of Magic class, her mind not on Ben for the first time since the train ride to Hogwarts.

Rowan’s mind being clear didn’t last long. As they hurried to the Transfiguration classroom, who else but Merula blocked their way.

“I’ve heard your stupid Mudblood friend is lost.”

“Don’t call him that!” Rowan snapped.

“Yeah! Shut up and go away.” Lili added, proud Rowan had snapped at Merula first.

Merula leaned against the stone wall, still smirking. “Maybe he’s exactly where he’s supposed to be, even if he’s missing.”

Lili squinted at Merula. “Do you know something about Ben?” Anger began to rise in her. If Merula knew where Ben was but was letting him stay lost, Lili would drag her to that room full of Devil’s Snare and shove her in without her wand.

Merula’s smirk became a nasty grin. “I know more than you’ll ever know, Brooks. There are things happening at this school that you’ll never understand. Things that will get you and all your horrible Mudblood friends killed.”

Lili stepped forward. “What the hell do you mean, Merula?”

“You’ll learn soon. Or you’ll die trying.” Merula laughed and began walking away. Lili unconsciously raised her wand, but Rowan pushed it back down. They watched Merula turn out of the corridor before following her to the Transfiguration classroom.

“What do you think she meant by that?” Lili asked Rowan in a low voice.

“I don’t know.” Rowan sounded worried. “It definitely sounds like she knows something though. What do you think she’s found?”

Lili shrugged, desperately going over what Merula said in her head. “I have no clue.”

She stared suspiciously at Merula as she and Rowan walked to their usual desk. She was sitting next to a dark haired Ravenclaw and they were whispering together. Judging by a quick glance at the parchment on her desk, it looked like Merula hadn’t stopped her research into the Cursed Vaults either.

Transfiguration was mainly review, and trying to do spells they had learned last year. Professor McGonagall walked around the room correcting students, and when she reached Lili and Rowan, they took the time to ask about Ben.

“Have you found any leads?” Rowan asked, eyes wide.

Professor McGonagall pursed her lips. “We are looking for him, Ms. Khanna. Now do that spell again with more constrained movements, and the transfiguration will be smoother.”

Potions was also mainly review and Professor Snape being his usual self. He called them idiots, said a few awful things to Chiara Lobosca and Barnaby Lee, then gave them an awful amount of homework to do by the next class.

“I hate him,” Lili muttered as they walked from the dungeons to lunch.

“He could stand to be a little nicer,” Rowan admitted, and Lili felt an inward victory. Rowan hated bad mouthing professors, but Professor Snape was a piece of work.

Their Defense Against the Dark Arts class in the afternoon was a surprising delight. In one class, they had gotten more useful information and practical knowledge then they had the entire previous year. Professor Cobbler was a short and stocky woman who didn’t tolerate nonsense, but was a decent enough teacher.

“I know Professor Rees thought it prudent to not teach you younger students practical magic, but the fact is that just leaves you more vulnerable. Especially in a year like this…” She trailed off her lips pursed. “Anyways, I will be making sure every class contains some practical spell for you to learn.”

Rowan was thrilled at one class being better taught this year and didn’t stop talking once as they walked to Herbology.

“Oh, I’m just so happy! I know the position is supposed to be cursed, so it has to be hard finding a new professor each year, but really, some of the professor’s I’ve heard about are downright awful! I don’t blame him, but Professor Dumbledore should really do some more thorough background checks and—oh, hello Tonks!”

“Wotcher, Rowan, Lili!” The pink haired witch cheerily waved to them, and knocked over two flowerpots as she marched over. “Whoops! Sorry, Professor Sprout!”

A weary sigh came from their Herbology professor. “I’ve becomes used to it, Tonks. Alright, let’s get this review started.”

As usual, Lili, Rowan, Penny, and Tonks talked all through Herbology. It wasn’t a strong suite for any of them, so they took the time to catch up.

“Have you seen Ben?” Penny whispered as they tried to name the different plants they had learned about last year.

Lili and Rowan shook their heads. “He’s still missing,” Lili told her sadly. The only class they had with the Gryffindor’s that day was Defense, and he hadn’t hurried over to them like he usually did when they shared a class.

Penny tugged at the end of one of her braids. “I feel so bad knowing he’s out there somewhere, and we’re here in class, doing nothing to help him.”

“I’m sure he’s alright, Penny.” Tonks patted her shoulder. “Ben can be pretty brave when he needs to be.” She paused. “Well, not really, but I’m sure he could be. Maybe. If he tried really hard.”

“Thank you, Tonks.” Penny said dryly, but she had a slight smile on her face.

“Ladies, will I have to once again spend a year repeatedly telling you to get to work? Or will you pay attention in class this time?” Professor Sprout’s sudden appearance made them all jump. “Either way: _get back to work_.”

The four of them hastily mumbled apologies, and did as she said.

Class broke up soon after and Rowan generously allowed them to forgo her usual study routine since it was the first day back. They spent the next few hours before dinner hanging out with Penny, Tonks, and a few other Hufflepuff girls playing Exploding Snap and Gobstones in one of Hogwarts many courtyards. Lili had a blast, and even with Ben missing, she thought that this first day of classes went much better than her previous first day.

The rest of the week went similarly.

Ben wasn’t in Charms or History of Magic on Tuesday. He wasn’t at their Wednesday afternoon study session to practice Reparifarge for Transfiguartion or write an essay on the properties of Mandrakes for Herbology.

Lili was never sure on how much she trusted Ben, but she did miss him and was worried sick over him. She had always been protecting him in some form since they met, and failing for once in her job made her feel useless. Her and Rowan spent every second they weren’t in class, eating, studying, or sleeping going around the castle searching for Ben.

Doing that somehow made Lili feel even worse. They had no clues to go on. Ben had been there one second, and then the next he was suddenly gone. Even the professors seemed stumped. They never mentioned that to the students, of course, but Lili could see them whispering worriedly up at their table during mealtimes and, somehow, she was dead certain it was about Ben being missing.

Her and Rowan had come to an unspoken agreement to put finding the Cursed Vaults on hold until they found Ben. Merula might find the Vauts before them, but Ben was more important, even if Lili wanted to find her brother too. But she knew Jacob could take care of himself; she wasn’t so sure about Ben.

They spent the first Saturday of the year searching all of Ben’s known hiding spots more thoroughly than they had during the week. They started with the Clocktower Courtyard, but nothing seemed different there. More moss had grown on the fountain, but that seemed to be the extent of change.

Stumbling across Charlie coming back from the Gryffindor Quidditch tryouts had been an accidental stroke of luck. In exchange for letting him ramble for twenty minutes about how happy he was to be on the Gryffindor team as their Seeker, he agreed to search his and Ben’s dorm and the Gryffindor common room.

“As long as you stay outside,” he added. “No Slytherin’s allowed in.”

Lili and Rowan nodded politely; they wouldn’t want two Gryffindors in the Slytherin common room if the situation had been reversed.

Charlie let them follow him up several flights of stairs before making them stand at the end of a hallway. Even then, they still saw him stop in front of a portrait with a large woman dressed in pink and declare, “Canis Major.”

The girls watched him enter the portrait.

Rowan pushed her glasses up her nose. “I think every single one of our Prefects would flay us alive if they saw us do that,” she said, amusement in her voice.

“Gryffindors,” Lili agreed, deeply amused by how little guile Charlie had. “No sense of preservation.”

They loitered in a dark corner of the hallway, wanting to be able to see when Charlie came out, but unwilling to be seen by any passing Gryffindors. Lili didn’t want to think what any of the older Gryffindor bullies would do to two small Slytherin girls.

Almost thirty minutes later, Charlie emerged from the portrait shaking his head.

“I couldn’t find anything. The Gryffindor common room is always a mess though. It can be hard to tell things apart. But nothing looked like anything related to Ben.” His shoulder slumped. “Sorry.”

Lili sighed. “It’s alright. Thank you for looking for us, Charlie.”

“It’s no problem. I’ve been missing Ben, too. He’s one of the few people who will let me talk about dragons and not be mean about it, even though dragons scare him.” Charlie sighed. “I hope he’s found soon. The dorm’s not the same without him screaming any time anything moves.”

He sounded genuinely sad there, so Lili stifled her giggle. “We all hope he’s found soon.”

Rowan nodded, then seemed to hesitate on what she wanted to say. “Also—congratulations on making Gryffindor team, Charlie.” Rowan paused again. “Er—do you have any tips for helping another second year get on their house team?” She asked awkwardly.

Lili looked at her friend in surprise. She knew Rowan loved Quidditch, but she didn’t think her friend would try out for the team.

Charlie perked up. “What position?”

Rowan blushed. “Chaser.”

“Well, the positions are different, but I’d say try to block out all the noise and just focus on the quaffle! If you focus on what you need to do and ignore the people in the air and stand it becomes much easier.”

A genuine smile came on Rowan’s face. “That actually helps. Thanks, Charlie.”

“No problem!” Charlie grinned for a second, but the smile dimmed. “At least I can give some Quidditch help if I can’t help find Ben.” He sighed. “See you two on Monday, and good luck Rowan.”

“See you,” Lili echoed.

“See you, and thanks,” Rowan said as Charlie walked back to the portrait.

Lili waited until they were down a flight of stairs and away from any possible Gryffindors before she spoke.

“You want to join the Quidditch team?”

Rowan looked down at her feet. “A little bit. I don’t think I’ll get on it though.”

“Why not? You did really well in Flying class last year. Much better than me.”

Rowan sighed. “The Slytherin team isn’t really like the Gryffindor team. You don’t just—try out and get on based on skill. I mean, of course they look for skill too, but they also look at how much your family can pay for the team and if you’ve had family members on the Slytherin team or on professional Quidditch team. It’s all about who you know or how much you can pay, and I don’t have anything going for me with either of those things.”

Lili was silent as they went down another flight of stairs, thinking over how to say what she was thinking.

“Your uncle makes custom brooms, right?”

“What?”

“Your uncle makes custom brooms,” Lili repeated.

Rowan didn’t seem to get where she was going. “Yes…?”

“Well,” Lili said impatiently, hopping down the stairs two at a time. “When they ask about that stuff, you can casually mention that. And how you’re _sure_ that if you asked him, he would be glad to give a discount to his niece’s teammates so they could have custom brooms. I’m sure some people on the team would love a custom broom.”

Lili turned to look up at Rowan who had stopped halfway down the staircase. Rowan’s eyes were shining. “Lili, that’s brilliant!” Rowan bounded down the stairs and nearly bowled Lili over in a bear hug. “Oh, I can’t thank you enough for thinking of that! Why didn’t I think of that? Oh, I hope that helps, I really want to be on the team!”

Lili’s cheeks turned pink as Rowan let her go, her glasses crooked. Rowan rightened them, her face still in a wide grin.

“It’s no problem,” Lili said as Rowan and her hooked their arms together. “Let’s go search the Artefact Room now.”

Rowan nodded, back to business, but still with a grin on her face. “Let’s go!”

They hurried down to the first floor, and then to the abandoned corner that held the Artefact Room.

Lili didn’t like it anymore this year than she had the year before. It was a small cluttered room, filled with books, spiders, at least one human skull, and possibly a boggart. She honestly had no clue why Ben liked the room since she was pretty sure at least three of those things should have terrified him, but it was his go-to hiding spot. Lili and Rowan hated the room, especially since the amount of spiderwebs in the room seemed to have multiplied with Ben not spending time in the room, but they would search it for him.

They didn’t find much at first. It took more time making sure they didn’t get attacked by an avalanche of books or an army of spiders than the time it took to look around. Lili let out grunts of disgust every five minutes and reminded herself she was doing this for Ben.

It took a lot of reminding. Merlin’s Beard, she did not like the Artefact Room.

The sound of Rowan shaking a cabinet handle drew her attention. Rowan was giving a puzzled at one of the cabinet drawers which seemed to be locked. The two girls exchanged confused looks.

“Why would it be locked?” Lili wondered out loud.

“I have no idea.” Rowan frowned. “That other drawer is locked because I’m pretty sure there’s a boggart in it, but this one doesn’t rattle like that one. Plus, boggarts don’t usually like sharing a space.” She stood back some and took out her wand. “Alohomora.”

There was a click, and the drawer opened. Rowan gasped and Lili picked her way through the room to get to her friend. “A note!”

“A note?”

Rowan waved a piece of parchment around, eyes wide. “A note!”

“Do you think it’s Ben’s?”

Rowan bit her lip. “I think he’s the only person who ever comes in here. I think the skull is off putting to most people.”

“It is to me,” Lili mumbled as she gave the skull a brief look.

“It’s only ever Ben, and us when we try to look for him.” Rowan was reading the note, still chewing on her lip. “It’s in some sort of code. A different code than the one we found in the ice room.”

Lili went bug eyed. “Why would Ben be getting coded messages?” This was utterly baffling.

“I don’t know…” Rowan looked up. “I’ll have to recheck all those books on runes and codes out again. It’ll be a pain going through all of them again.” She sighed.

“I’ll help.” Lili told her. “I need to learn to do this myself too. You can teach me.”

A small smile appeared on Rowan’s face. “That sounds fun!” The smile fell. “We can start today, if you don’t want to continue looking in Ben’s usual spots. But I won’t be able to do it next Saturday. That’s when the Slytherin Quidditch try outs are.”

Lili nodded. “That’s fine. Let’s go to the library and start trying to decode this letter. This is the first clue we’ve gotten, and I don’t want its trail to go cold.”


	4. The Frog Choir

“LILI!”

A body dressed in green jumped onto her bed causing Lili to be sent slightly into the air.

Lili raised an eyebrow and put down her book on secret codes. “Did you—”

“I MADE THE SLYTHERIN TEAM!” Rowan squealed. “As a reserve.” She added on in a slightly calmer tone, but being a reserve didn’t seem to dampen her spirits.

Lili beamed at her friend. “That is beyond amazing, Rowan! So, what happened in the try out?”

Rowan prattled on for the rest of the afternoon and through dinner, talking all about her try out and how the Slytherin team worked. Lili didn’t know anything about Quidditch, and didn’t care much for it to be honest, but Rowan was excited, so she let her friend ramble.

“The only bad thing is—” Rowan let out a huge yawn here, having talked nonstop right until lights out, “—the only bad thing is that I’ll have to completely rearrange my study schedule! Even as a reserve, I have to show up to every practice and game, so that’s a few study hours taken away every week. My schedule will need a complete revamp.” She yawned again. “I can do it tomorrow morning.”

She spent all of breakfast doing exactly that. Lili ate and Rowan used up several rolls of paper to make a new schedule for the two of them.

Halfway through, Rowan looked up anxiously at Lili. “You’re not going to be lonely or anything when I’m gone? I hate leaving you alone…” She trailed off, and Lili knew she was remembering last year when Lili had said she was used to being alone before the winter holidays. Lili thought it prudent to not repeat that phrase this time around, even if it was still true.

“I’ll be fine.” She said simply. “I’ll read up on runes and codes.”

Lili, it turned out, would not be fine. She barely got through the books on codes; the book was so much higher than her normal reading level. Lili was not Rowan; she didn’t learn best by reading something in a book, but by having it explained physically or verbally. She gave up on trying to read without Rowan to help clear things up on day one of Quidditch practice.

She then spent the few hours Rowan was away searching for Ben, but that got old quickly. The Artefact Room was even creepier without Rowan by her side, and the castle was growing colder—not just because of the seasons turning, but also because of the cursed ice. It hadn’t been seen yet in Hogwarts, but the presence of the ice was felt; the castle had gotten _cold_.

The third day she spent knitting a scarf. This was more enjoyable than reading and searching for Ben, but it was less preoccupying. She didn’t need much brain power to focus on knitting, so Lili’s mind kept wandering during the process, to her frustration.

“Why don’t you join a club that meets when I’m at Quidditch practice then?” Rowan said when Lili complained about having too few things to do.

Lili blinked. “Rowan, you always have the right idea.”

Rowan’s cheeks darkened slightly. “I wouldn’t say always….”

“Always.” Lili told her cheekily. Rowan giggled.

But Lili really did think it was a brilliant idea. She couldn’t search for Ben, she couldn’t search for the Cursed Vaults, and she couldn’t talk to Rowan, but she needed to keep her mind focused somehow. Clubs were the perfect solution.

She spent half an hour examining the bulletin board in the Slytherin common room, trying to find one that lined up with Rowan’s Quidditch schedule. There were a few, and some even met multiple times a week. She decided to try them all.

First was Fencing Club. Lili had been surprised to see a muggle sport as a club at Hogwarts, but she was relieved. She, at least, had had practice at this one thing. The only problem with the club was that it met once a month.

The meeting was enjoyable. Lili hadn’t brought any of her fencing things to Hogwarts, not expecting that she would need it, but they had given her spares. She wasn’t the best fencer of the dozen or so members, but she was pretty good for being the youngest member. She would keep that club on her schedule.

She attempted to go to Dueling Club, but Professor Flitwick informed her that she would only be allowed in the club in her third year.

Lili was confused. She looked behind Professor Flitwick at the members of the Slytherin Dueling Club, and noted that Barnaby Lee, a student in her year, was there. “But Barnaby’s there and he’s a second year.”

“I didn’t say only third years and up were allowed, I said _you_ would be allowed in your third year.”

“What? Why?” Lili gaped at her professor. “That’s so unfair!”

Professor Flitwick raised an eyebrow. “Do you not remember your Christmas holidays spent working for Mr. Filch?”

She closed her mouth and blushed. She _had_ forgotten about her against the rules duel with Merula last year.

Professor Flitwick let out a chuckle. “It’s not too long. You’re not banned for life! But it is a rule we have—unauthorized dueling leads to a year long ejection from the club.” His smile turned kindly. “But if you are looking for a club to go to in the meantime, I also run the Charms Club and the Frog Choir! We’re holding auditions at the start of October for the Frog Choir. Having your own toad is not necessary!”

Lili left that club disappointed, but she did go to one meeting of the Charms Club. However, that just reminded her of Ben and how good he was at Charms. She didn’t go to a second meeting.

“I don’t know about Frog Choir.” Lili said at dinner that night as she tore a roll of bread in half.

“Well, you are a pretty good singer.” Rowan told her, practically inhaling her shepherd’s pie. She had just gotten back from a practice.

“How do you know that?”

“You sing in the shower,” Rowan said around a mouthful of food. “It sounds really good though! No need to be embarrassed.”

Lili was still embarrassed. She hadn’t realized her roommates could hear her.

“You’ve got to be joking.” Merula’s voice said flatly from a few people down. “Brooks wants to join the Frog Choir.”

Heat was flooding into Lili’s cheeks. People were staring. “Maybe. What’s it to you, Merula?”

Merula’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not Frog Choir material. Someone like me is.”

Lili and Rowan stared.

“ _You’re_ going to audition for the _Frog Choir_?” Rowan said, her voice incredulous.

Merula flushed. “Yeah. And I’m not just auditioning, I’m getting on the choir. And you aren’t, _loser_.” Even though her plate was half finished, Merula stood up and left the Great Hall.

Lili and Rowan exchanged disbelieving stares.

“I never pegged Merula as the choir type.” Lili muttered.

“Me neither.” Rowan stared at Merula’s retreating back. “Wonder why she wants to.”

“Who cares.” Lili shrugged. “I’m definitely going to audition now, though. I need to beat Merula.”

Rowan sighed. “Oh, Lili, that’s not a good reason. But I’ll support you anyways.”

Lili laughed. “Thank you.”

-x-x-x-

Rowan really did support her as Lili prepared for her audition. She had never sung in public before, but she was determined to prove she was either better than, or at least as good as, Merula in this.

Lili had most of her nerves eased just by singing in front of Rowan. Once, she even managed to sing in front of Desdemona and Vidalia, who had walked in halfway through her song. She had powered through the distraction and hadn’t stuttered once. Desdemona and Vidalia didn’t react to her singing, which Lili counted as them thinking she was good. If they had thought her average or bad, they wouldn’t have hesitated to mock her.

This left Lili with two problems: she still had to time to kill before the auditions, and Merula was back to bothering her.

The first problem was easier solved than the second. There were still a large number of clubs that Lili had yet to try. She went to the Art Club, but it turned out to be more focused on painting and drawing instead of knitting and crocheting, the two artistic things Lili could do. She considered the Astronomy Club, but she liked her sleep and needed things to do during the day.

Her trip to the Transfiguration Club was enlightening. The younger members were split into groups and taught advanced spells for their year. Lili’s group was taught Revelio, one of the Revealing Charms. Each group member, under the careful eye of a Ravenclaw N.E.W.T. student, tried to reveal hidden compartments on a seemingly smooth jewelry box. It was tough for Lili, but she enjoyed the club much more than she thought she would. She didn’t know if she would stay in the club for long, but she decided to go to the next meeting. Who knew how many other useful spells like Revelio she could learn and use in her search for both Ben and the Cursed Vaults?

Finally, between Transfiguration Club and Fencing Club and the usual amount of homework, she had things to do that took up her time when Rowan wasn’t there.

Unfortunately, that lead to her second problem: Merula.

Merula actually seemed threatened by the idea of Lili joining the Frog Choir, and she had no idea why. There were multiple spots open, and Lili honestly doubted many students auditioned for the Frog Choir. She had no idea why Merula was acting so nasty.

She’d taken up sitting next to Lili in Potions once more, talking through Professor Snape’s lectures and then blaming it on Lili. Professor Snape seemed to know Merula was lying, but he never called her out beyond a frown. He also never punished Lili, so there was some good there too.

“Why do you keep bothering me about this?” Lili snapped at the end of Potions, a few days before the audition.

“Why do you even want to join the Frog Choir?” Merula snapped back.

Lili shrugged. “I like singing, and Professor Flitwick said I should. Do I need more reasons?”

“Yes!” Merula said too loudly. Several people looked over at them. She lowered her voice slightly. “The Frog Choir is important to some people!”

Lili physically turned to look at Merula, an odd thought forming in her mind. The Frog Choir wasn’t considered a cool club so she had to have some very personal reason for wanting to join. “Merula, is the Frog Choir really so important to you that you’re bothering people to drop out of the auditions to better your chances of getting in?”

Merula seemed to be grinding her teeth. “Yes. It. Is.”

“Why?” Lili was honestly baffled. She had thought Merula was easy to figure out, but her adamance of being on the Frog Choir was throwing Lili for a loop.

Her question seemed to leave Merula floundering. “It’s none of your business.” She hissed as she snatched up her cauldron and left the Potions classroom.

“How odd.”

Lili turned back to look at Rowan. “Yeah,” she agreed. “How odd.”

They finished cleaning up and left for lunch.

Rowan suddenly laughed. “You know what a good test of your singing would be, Lili?”

Lili raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“Singing to Professor Snape!”

“No! I am _not_ doing that! No way!”

Lili felt beyond horrified and Rowan had only suggested it. “Can you imagine what he would say to that?” Lili shuddered. Professor Snape’s insults could get mean.

“Well, it’d make you unafraid to sing in front of anyone else! And it wouldn’t be anything worse than what he already says to Chiara and Barnaby.”

Lili laughed. “True, but you can’t deny that some of the stuff he says about Barnaby isn’t true. I’ve never seen anyone so dumb before.”

Rowan tsk’ed at her. “That’s not nice to say. Barnaby’s a Beater on the Quidditch team—which, well, he only got because he’s already built like a troll at twelve and not because of any actual skill or strategy—but he’s been nothing but nice to me.”

“But you’re not denying he’s stupid?”

“Oh, shush. Just because he’s not good at schoolwork doesn’t mean Professor Snape should insult him like that.”

Lili shrugged. “For once, I agree with him, though.” Rowan still had a concerned look on her face, so Lili changed the subject as subtly as she could. “Anyways, have you figured out which code the note is in yet?”

Rowan pushed her glasses up her nose. “I’ve got it down between two of them. Futhark and—”

“Apse, right? That’s one that’s similar to Futhark.”

Rowan beamed. “You do listen to my lectures on codes and runes!”

Lili smiled at Rowan’s happiness. “I learn better from your lectures than from the books, honestly.”

“Oh, that makes me so happy! I wish I could just fit more studying and decoding in! I never thought Quidditch would take up so much time.”

“Well, your first game is in a month or so,” Lili reasoned. The Slytherin vs Gryffindor match was the first of the year and always in early November.

Rowan sighed. “I probably won’t play, but it’s good enough to be wearing the uniform!”

Lili laughed. “Good for you on staying positive. I think—”

“ _I_ think you should shut up.”

Lili and Rowan halted. Merula was in front of them, leaning against a wall. Lili crossed her arms. “Really, Merula? Are you seriously doing this again? It’s only been, like, ten minutes since you bothered us last.”

“Are you seriously going to join the Frog Choir?”

Lili was beyond exasperated. “For the last time, yes! You’re not doing anything but making me want to join more just so I can bother _you_ like you’re bothering _me_ right now!”

Merula pushed away from the wall and stood almost face to face with Lili, leaving her with a good look into Merula’s unusually colored eyes. Instead of being carefully blank as usual, her red-violet gaze was almost sad.

“Just—go. Stop. Please. Flitwick told me there’s only four spots open on the choir and that more than four people have signed up to audition.”

_Please_? Merula wanted her gone so badly that she was begging? Lili knew she was bug eyed, and part of her was also surprised that Merula wasn’t commenting on that. She seemed like the type to make fun of people’s appearance, like the boy who had made the bug eyed comment to Lili years ago.

“Why do you want this so badly?” Lili’s question came out softer than she intended.

Merula took a step back and visibly swallowed. “My mum had been part of the choir and she used to sing their songs to me. She wanted me to be part of the choir too.” She muttered quietly.

All Lili could do was gape. She hadn’t expected Merula to honestly answer her question.

Her mother? The one in Azkaban? It was weird to think of a Death Eater doing something so… normal as singing. So weird to think that Merula had happy memories of her Death Eater mother.

“I—” Lili had no idea how to reply. “I don’t know. I’ll have to think about it.”

Something almost hopeful lit up in Merula’s eyes. “Really?”

Lili had no idea what was going on. She wanted to look over her shoulder at Rowan, just as a way to remind herself that this was in fact the real world, but she knew Merula would take it the wrong way. She just could not believe anything about Merula right now. Merula was all jagged edges and insults, but right now she was… soft. She had emotions besides anger and smugness.

Lili didn’t like it. She was uncomfortable. In her mind, Merula was the enemy, and seeing her having feelings and emotions was wrong.

“I’ll think about it, just stop bothering me already. Go away and don’t talk to me again or—or I’ll duel you and hang you from a statue.” Lili snapped out, resorting to anger in her discomfort. “Come on, Rowan.” She finally looked over her shoulder, breaking whatever spell had come over the three of them in the corridor.

Rowan hurried forward and the two linked arms as they hurried away from a Merula who looked almost lost.

“Did that really happen?” Lili asked no one in particular.

“I’d say yes, but it definitely felt unreal.” Rowan’s eyes were as wide as Lili’s had been. “Are you still going to the audition?”

Lili didn’t answer. Her stomach churned anxiously. She had no idea what to do.

-x-x-x-

Lili picked at her food during lunch, and was scolded several times by Professor Cobbler during Defense Against the Dark Arts. She couldn’t think of anything but Merula’s confession, and somehow, she knew Merula knew she was thinking about it too. Them both being in Slytherin meant they shared every class, and Merula kept looking over at her throughout Defense. The looks ranged from anger (at telling Lili about her mother) to some expression Lili found almost pitiable.

It all made Lili want to puke. She had no idea what to do.

The inner turmoil seemed to show on her face as she entered Herbology. Her and Rowan were quiet, and Lili could tell Penny and Tonks were curious about why they both looked so absorbed in their thoughts.

Penny’s voice broke through her emotional nausea. “Are you okay, Lili?”

Lili looked up. Penny had obviously chosen then to speak since Tonks had been dragged away by an irate looking Professor Sprout. She briefly wondered how she had missed that before focusing on Penny.

Should she tell Penny? Lili bit her lip. Penny was much better with emotions than her. She would probably give good advice.

“I don’t know. Something weird happened earlier…” She explained what happened earlier to an increasingly shocked Penny. “What do you think I should do?”

“That is a dilemma.” Penny chewed on the inside of her cheek. “I don’t know what’s best, honestly. If you auditioned and you made it and Merula didn’t, well, fair is fair. Professor Flitwick judged you the better singer. But it does mean an awful lot to her. And I don’t want to think what a Merula who didn’t make it would be like.” She shuddered lightly and Lili had to agree. A Merula who didn’t get what she wanted was not a fun Merula.

Penny sighed. “I don’t know. Follow your heart, or something.”

Lili snorted. “Great advice.”

“I’m a witch, not a therapist.” Penny rolled her eyes.

Lili didn’t get much done over the next few days. Professor’s scolded her for being careless each class, and she didn’t go to any of her new clubs, she was so focused on trying to figure out what to do with the Merula situation.

Her gut instinct was to go to the audition anyways. She didn’t like Merula, and that didn’t change because she had a sad past. She wanted to one up Merula, always.

But at the same time, Lili thought about what she would do if she was trying to join a club that Jacob had been in, but there were limited spots. Lili hated to admit it, but she probably would be just as dreadful as Merula. She would want that connection with Jacob, just like Merula wanted that connection with her mother.

It was an unfair comparison because Jacob was not a Death Eater in Azkaban, but the thought wormed itself into her mind.

_What if it was you and Jacob? What if_?

Lili buried her head in her pillow and screeched.

-x-x-x-

Frog Choir auditions started at the same time as Rowan’s Saturday morning Quidditch practice. The two of them quietly got ready at the same time.

Lili, who had less things to get together, sat on her bed staring at her hands after she finished getting ready. Rowan sat next to her.

“Good luck,” her friend said quietly. “If you, you know, decide to audition.”

“I still haven’t decided.” Lili told her. Her stomach hadn’t stopped churning for the past three days.

“Well, meet me in the library at our usual table after whatever you decide to do. We’ll work on the code. I think I’m close to cracking it.”

Lili nodded absently, her thoughts already back to her situation. “Have fun,” she called out as the door opened and closed. She sighed.

The auditions were being held in the Great Hall, and Lili wished it were a longer walk.

She remembered when they had gone into the icy corridor, and how Lili had freed Merula entirely because Lili knew helping Merula would eat at the other girl’s thoughts and anger her. _Is this payback_? Lili thought grimly, _because this is awful_.

A dozen or so students were milling about the foyer in front of the Great Hall, Merula included. The doors to the hall were closed, and Lili could faintly hear music playing. Someone must be in the middle of an audition.

Lili sat down on a bench and waited. Merula didn’t approach her, and she didn’t approach Merula.

A Ravenclaw girl came out, and a Hufflepuff boy entered. Time passed, he came out, and Professor Flitwick’s voice rang out clearly.

“Lilith Brooks? Time for your audition, Lili!”

Lili stood up. Somehow, she could feel Merula’s despair and it was making Lili feel despairing herself. She wanted to puke again. There were too many awful emotions swirling in her head. Her brain began to pound against her skull.

She strode out of the foyer and went outside.

Professor Flitwick’s voice echoed behind her, too loud yet fading. “Lilith Brooks? Did Lili not show up? Well, then Merula Snyde.”

Lili didn’t stay outside long. Just long enough to realize that, yes, she did in fact ditch her Frog Choir audition for Merula Snyde, and come to terms with that. It was easier than she thought it would be. She felt almost giddy and she didn’t know why. Lili didn’t want to feel happy, she had wanted to join the Frog Choir, but it was almost like Merula was radiating so much happiness that it was affecting Lili herself.

As she walked back in the foyer, the potential Frog Choir members were still standing around. Lili made a beeline for Merula.

It was silent for a moment between them. Lili didn’t know what she was doing, and her hackles and anger rose up.

“It’s like in the icy corridor. You owe me twice now. Don’t forget it.”

She turned and left before Merula could say anything. She didn’t want Professor Flitwick to see her.

The library was blessedly quiet. She buried herself in her Herbology textbook and didn’t even look up as Rowan sat down across from her.

They spent almost an hour in that silence, before a distressed noise from Rowan brought Lili out of her stupor.

“Rowan?”

“Oh, Lili, I really do hope I translated this wrong. I’ve quadruple checked it, but this has to be the translation.” She slid the paper across the table, and Lili went cold as she read the decoded message.

_Your next instructions have been Transfigured into a Black Quill and hidden in the Gryffindor Common Room._

_Failure to follow your instructions will result in severe punishment_

_-R_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> eee some notes to explain this chapter, because I'm still iffy on whether what was happening was totally clear. So, I really like the game canon that MC is a natural Legillimens (like Queenie in the Fantastic Beasts movies) even though it's not something mentioned often in the game.
> 
> But I really do like the idea so I've been trying to tie it in in subtle ways! Like, Lili knowing what people are saying about her behind her back or very accurately guessing people's thoughts and emotions. It's most blatant this chapter where Merula is like..., broadcasting her thoughts and emotions and it's effecting Lili really bad due to how close the two of them are on a daily basis. Close like physical proximity to each other, not being friends or anything lol And Lili has her mind cast wide open, but has never had any training in blocking thoughts, so it's making her confused on something she would usually be pretty resolute on (meaning: if she weren't a Legillimens, she would've been like lol screw merula and done the audition with no regrets). I just wanted to explain why Lili suddenly seems so off in the second half there; she's a mind reader/empath who doesn't know she's one and this is her first big experience with the negative impacts of being an untrained and unknowing Legillimens.


	5. The Black Quill

“Could this really be for Ben?”

“It was in the Artefact Room, and it says a note was left in the Gryffindor common room…”

Lili was on emotions overload. Between _whatever_ just happened with Merula, and now _this_ , she had no idea how to process any new information.

“Who is R?” She asked, laying her head on her arm which was stretched out on the table.

Rowan seemed just as frustrated. “I have no idea. Felix _Rosier_? _Rubeus_ Hagrid? _Ar_ gus Filch? It’s too common a letter.”

Lili sighed and let her head hit the table. “I’m too emotionally exhausted for this guesswork.”

“I can see.” Rowan paused. “How’d Frog Choir go?”

“I didn’t audition,” Lili said, no emotion in her voice.

“Oh.”

Another pause.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really.”

“Okay. I’m always open to listening though.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Another, lengthier pause.

Lili sighed and sat up. “So, we’ll need to get into the Gryffindor common room.”

Rowan blinked owlishly. “What?”

“No offense to him, but we can’t just ask Charlie to search the common room for a Black Quill. He’ll want to know why, and we can’t tell him.”

“Oh.” Rowan bit her lip. “That will be a bit of a problem. We can think of something, I’m sure.”

“Not today.” Lili said, too exhausted to do much.

Rowan eyed her. “Not today,” she reluctantly agreed.

-x-x-x-

Sunday was better for Lili. Sleep was good and solved so many problems. Lili was ready to tackle their problems now and not moan the entire time.

They opted to think up plans in the Clocktower Courtyard instead of the library, as it was a rare sunny and warm day and they didn’t want to waste it.

“Okay, so. I was thinking that we use Reducio on you, and when someone comes out of the room, you’ll hop in while very small. When you’re in, you’ll use Engorgio on yourself. Then you’ll search for the Black Quill, and leave the room. I’ll stand guard.”

Lili stared at Rowan.

“Can I be blunt?”

“…I don’t think I’m going to like what comes next.”

“What the bloody hell, Rowan?”

“I thought it was good…”

“I’m not using Reducio on myself! That sounds stupidly dangerous even by my usual standards.”

“Fine!” Rowan slammed her hands on the ground, then immediately brought them back up alongside an _ouch_. “We won’t do that then.” She began to sulk. “I thought it was a good idea.”

“It was certainly _an_ idea.” Lili mumbled, causing Rowan to sulk harder.

Rowan glared. “Fine then. You come up with something.”

“Do you think the Gryffindor’s have changed their password in the past two months?”

“What?”

“Their password. We heard Charlie say it. I’d be willing to bet that the Gryffindors don’t change their password nearly as often as the Slytherin’s do. We could just walk right in.”

“Their portrait is sentient. I doubt she’d let two Slytherin’s in.”

Lili mused on that, staring up at the bright blue sky. “We practice the Colour Change Charm and turn our green robes red.” She paused. “Or just not wear our robes. Depends on when we go.”

Rowan huffed. “The Halloween Feast.”

“What?”

“We’ll go during the Halloween Feast.”

Lili stared. “Why? I don’t want to miss that.”

“Exactly. No one will, so the Gryffindor common room will be empty.”

“Isn’t there another time, or—"

“The Gryffindor-Slytherin match could also work, but I have to be there. You’d have to do it without me then.”

“So, on Halloween then,” Lili said reluctantly. She was terribly sad about missing the feast, but acknowledging she wanted Rowan with her made the other girl shake out of her sulk. “Maybe we could catch the tail end of the feast.”

Rowan sighed. “Hopefully. I don’t want to miss it either, you know.”

“If we go during Halloween, then most people will be wearing robes. We can start learning the Colour Change Charm next study session.”

Rowan nodded. “I can add that to the to do list for that session.”

Silence came between them once more, but this time it was a good silence. They sat next to each other and stared at the sky or at the water coming out of the fountain. Alone, but together.

“Do you ever think we’re too late?” Rowan’s quiet voice broke the silence.

“Hm?” Lili opened one eye; she had been dozing.

“Ben. Do you ever think we’re too late? I overheard some whispers earlier and it seemed like some people thought they saw Ben in the halls early in the morning. It’s—I don’t know. I’m beyond worried for Ben.”

Lili sat up. “People think they saw Ben?”

Rowan hugged her knees to her chest. “I heard some people at the Ravenclaw table whispering about it when you were half asleep at breakfast.”

“But… how?”

“Yeah. I didn’t understand either.”

Lili tried to put all the confidence she didn’t feel into her voice. “I’m sure Ben’s fine, and that we haven’t lost him, and we’ll find him perfectly whole. He’s smart and really talented. It’s okay.”

“If you say so.”

“I do,” Lili said, but it came out much weaker than she intended. “I do.” She said in a stronger voice this time. “We just have to practice our Colour Changing Charms and wait until Halloween. Then we’ll be able to start truly looking for Ben.”

-x-x-x-

By the time of Lili’s thirteenth birthday a week later she was feeling much better. The weirdness of that whole weekend hadn’t been forgotten, but it was firmly in the past and she had moved on. Unlike last year where she had class on her birthday, this year it was on a Saturday. Rowan let her sleep in, and Lili had a delightful breakfast in bed that her friend had brought up to her.

They spent the day together, and it was the best birthday Lili had had in years. Rowan was careful to not bring up Jacob or Ben, and let Lili lead the conversations for once. Lili had a great time, even if it did rain the whole afternoon through.

The week and a half after her birthday leading up to the Halloween Feast was more nerve wracking. Lili and Rowan spent most of their free time making sure their Colour Changing Charms worked and that they had a suitable story invented so they wouldn’t get in too much trouble if they were caught. Lili even snuck up to where the entrance was and waited for a Gryffindor to say the password, just in case it had changed.

It hadn’t. Lili felt very smug at how predictable the Gryffindor’s were.

Soon enough, Halloween was there.

They waited outside the Great Hall, watching as the crowd became a stream, then a trickle, then practically nonexistent. They rushed up several flights of stairs, and as they reached the landing of the last flight, cast the Color Change Charm on each other’s robes.

“Colovaria.” They said in unison, and sighed in relief as their emerald green details all turned a crimson red.

“Are you ready?” Lili asked.

Rowan looked vaguely ill. “Of course.”

They marched up to the portrait, trying to appear confident. “Canis Major.” Lili said. It was decided she would take the speaking role as she was better at lying on the fly.

The lady in the portrait peered down at them. “And why aren’t you two at the feast? I was just about to leave for my own party, you know?” She harrumphed.

“I forgot something in my dorm.” Lili shifted from one foot to another, then stilled herself as best as she could. She couldn’t appear nervous.

“And it couldn’t wait.”

Lili turned her face up to the portrait, her eyes wide. It made her look bug eyed, but the cold permeating the castle also made her eyes tear up the slightest bit. “It was my friend’s birthday a few days ago, but I wasn’t finished with my present then. They’ve been waiting for my gift for days now and I promised them I would give it to them at the feast. If I don’t give it today, I might lose my friend!” She wobbled her lip the tiniest bit.

The portrait clucked. “Poor dear, don’t cry. Here, I’ll let you in now. Go get your gift, sweetheart.”

Lili sniffled for emphasis. “Thank you.”

The portrait swung open, and Rowan and Lili were in.

“That. Was. _Brilliant_.” Rowan whispered as the door swung close behind them.

“Thank you,” Lili preened as she stepped into a very red room.

The Gryffindor common room was the exact opposite of the Slytherin common room. It was airy and comfortable looking, decorated in many different shades of red and gold. It was also very messy. Charlie hadn’t lied about that.

“How are we going to find a black quill in all this?”

Lili sighed. “Quickly.”

They searched as quickly as they could, but it still felt too long to Lili. Every time she heard a noise, she jumped and whipped her head around to every visible door, making sure it wasn’t some Gryffindor student. Lili had never been so on edge.

“These couches are much comfier than ours,” she heard Rowan mutter.

“Focus, Rowan.”

“Right. Quill.”

She was looking around the window seat when she spotted it. She gasped loudly and dove down, trying to reach down far enough to grab the quill. It hurt horribly, trying to stuff her arm down so small a crack and trying to pick up so small a target, but she managed it.

“Ow!” She tore her arm free and her target came free from her tenuous grasp, but luckily, the black quill floated through the air, too light to fall quickly. Rowan grabbed it, her eyes shining.

“This has to be it! Should we un-Transfigure it now?”

Lili shook her head. “Let’s leave. I don’t know how much longer the feast will last.”

“Right.”

Lili made to leave, then paused and reached down to grab a pillow that seemed to belong to the common room. She put it under her robe and held it like it was something precious. She winked at Rowan. “In case the portrait lady asks about the gift. _And_ as proof we snuck into the Gryffindor common room.”

Rowan laughed, slightly hysterically. “That’s terrible. I love it. Let’s go.”

They left the room, and no one except the portrait was there to bother them.

“I see you have your present, took you long enough. Now, off you go, and no running in the halls, young ladies!”

Her voice faded away as they ran down a flight of stairs. When they reached the third floor, they performed Colovaria again, sending their red robes back into their usual green.

A manic grin was on Rowan’s face. “I can’t believe we got away with that!”

“Let’s just hope that this quill is worth missing the Halloween Feast.”

-x-x-x-

They passed the Great Hall on the way down to the dungeons, and saw that the Great Hall doors were still closed.

Lili stared wistfully at them. “We could still sneak in…”

“We’d make an entrance no matter what opening those doors.” Rowan said practically, to Lili’s despair.

“Stop being right all the time.”

Rowan giggled. “So, my Reducio plan—”

“Okay, stop being right _90%_ of the time.”

“I’ll take it!”

Lili looked down at the Black Quill held tightly in Rowan’s hand. “What do you think it’s going to say?”

That brought Rowan’s mood down. She sighed. “I don’t know…. I hope it isn’t anything terrible. I don’t want anything bad happening to Ben.”

“Me either. Pureblood.” She spat out the last word as they reached the Slytherin common room. She didn’t like the current password and its implications.

The common room was empty, but they didn’t trust any common space in Slytherin. The only safe space to talk about their search for Ben and the Cursed Vaults was in their own room, with the curtains of their bed muffling their conversation.

Rowan reverently put the feather down on her bed, while Lili kicked Alfred off the bed. She didn’t want her cat trying to swat at the quill.

“What spell do we use?” Lili asked Rowan, who probably knew more on the subject than she did.

Rowan tilted her head, thinking. “Out of the ones we know, I think Reparifarge would work. It’s meant for unfinished Transfigurations, but it can work on finished ones too.”

Lili nodded. “Right then. Reparifarge.”

There was a ripple as the Black Quill transformed from a quill into a piece of parchment. Lili and Rowan gasped at the same time.

“I didn’t think it would actually change.” Rowan said, eyes wide.

Lili snatched the note up, and read.

_Proceed to the farthest corridor at the east end of the fifth floor._

_Transfigure this scroll back into a Black Quill, and return it to the Gryffindor Common Room_.

_Failure to follow your instructions will result in severe punishment._

_-R_

She silently handed the parchment over to Rowan.

“Severe punishment?! Is that what’s happened to Ben?” Rowan seemed to have tears in her eyes. “We have to do something!”

“What’s in the east end of the fifth floor? Why would he be told to go there?”

Rowan shook her head. “I can’t think of anything there. Hogwarts is full of abandoned corridors and I’m pretty sure that’s one of them. Why would he need to put the quill back?”

A chill came over Lili. “Maybe he isn’t the only one receiving these instructions.”

The girls exchanged a look. The thought of multiple people sneaking around Hogwarts looking for the Cursed Vaults was not a good one.

Rowan sat back on her bed. “I don’t know about this, Lili. Maybe we should go to Professor Dumbledore or Professor McGonagall for once.”

Lili tried to ignore the anger that rose up at her friend’s suggestion. “What have they done so far? Absolutely nothing, while we’ve found clues, not just about Ben but about the Cursed Vaults. We can do this on our own, Rowan.”

Her friend didn’t look satisfied. “I don’t know.”

Lili shook her head impatiently. “Let’s just go now. If we find Ben, then we’ll get a professor and let them handle it after. Who knows how much time Ben has left, Rowan?”

That seemed to make the decision for Rowan. She hesitantly nodded. “We’ll see if Ben is there first, then we’ll get a professor. Okay, I can go with that.”

They ran out of the Slytherin rooms, and up the stairs. As she reached the landing that lead to the Great Hall, Lili skidded to a stop and threw her arm out. Rowan ran into her arm with an _oof_.

“Lili, what—”

“ _Shhhh_!”

A door had opened a few meters away from them and footsteps were sounding through the foyer.

“It doesn’t look good for Professors to leave the Halloween Feast, Severus.”

“Yes, but as I told you, it is necessary. I have found Copper.”

Lili and Rowan exchanged amazed looks.

“ _Copper_? As in _Ben Copper_? Why didn’t you mention that in the Great Hall then, Severus?”

“I didn’t want prying ears to overhear, and there were far too many in the Great Hall.”

“Lead the way then….”

Their voices faded away.

“We’re following them.”

Rowan nodded. “Let’s go.”

It wasn’t hard to follow the professors. Lili’s heart sunk as she realized the way they were walking led them to the east side of the castle. As they walked up the stairs, Lili and Rowan exchanged silent looks. They were heading to the place specified in the note.

Lili also noted that the closer they got, the colder it got. Could the cursed ice have spread to the fifth floor?

Professors McGonagall and Snape had left the door to the farthest-most corridor open. Lili could guess why. This corridor reminded her of the corridor she had gone into last year. The cursed ice _had_ spread here. There were icicles hanging from the ceiling, a few of them growing every so often, and large blocks of ice rose from the floor. Lili could see her professors stepping gingerly as they tried to navigate the slippery floor.

Rowan gasped at what was in the middle of the hallway—Ben, his head and one arm sticking out of a black of ice.

“Shhh!” Lili whispered. They would be in big trouble if they were caught now.

“Mr. Copper!” Professor McGonagall’s voice was tinged with worry. “Are you alright?”

Lili couldn’t stop her gasp as Ben spoke. She hadn’t expected him to be awake. “I-I-I-I’m c-c-c-c-c-cold-d.”

“Obviously.” Rowan made a hissing noise at Snape’s nonchalant tone, and Lili didn’t bother shushing her a second time. Lili wanted to hiss and say some choice words herself.

“The cursed ice has spread beyond its original location. Someone must be tampering with the Vault.”

“How unfortunate that our esteemed Headmaster is away at the moment, and not here to deal with the cursed ice.”

Dumbledore wasn’t at Hogwarts? Lili hadn’t known that. She already held the Headmaster in low esteem, and this didn’t gain him any respect. He should be here, looking for Ben and keeping watch on the cursed ice. That was his job. She wondered where he could be.

“We can handle this on our own. Flipendo.” They saw Professor McGonagall cast the Knockback Jinx, but to Lili’s horror, the ice didn’t even crack. Her professor seemed just as surprised. “The Knockback Jinx has always shattered the cursed ice before. This is troubling.”

“Incendio would melt it away.”

Rowan muttered a tiny no, and Lili didn’t shush her that time. She felt the same fear at the thought of Incendio being cast so close to Ben.

“Severus! Incendio would also melt Ben’s flesh away.”

Lili and Rowan’s whimpers were covered by Ben’s own whimper.

Professor McGonagall’s voice was firm. “We will not be using Incendio anywhere near the boy. Target the ice furthest from Mr. Copper. _Carefully_.”

“Fine.” Professor Snape didn’t sound happy about it, but he cast Incendio away from Ben’s face.

Rowan tugged on her arm then, and began to walk back the way they came. Lili followed as quietly as she could. They didn’t speak until they were safely away in their dorm, back on Rowan’s bed. Desdemona and Vidalia seemed to still be at the feast, though other Slytherins had begun to trickle back to the common room.

“They’ll take Ben to the Hospital Wing, and he’ll probably be there for a while.” Rowan was subdued, and almost untalkative. Lili could understand why.

“At least he’s back,” Lili said.

“At least he’s back,” Rowan echoed.

“We can visit him in the morning.”

Rowan perked up slightly at that. “Hopefully Madam Pomfrey will let us in.”

“And he could talk, so he shouldn’t be too hurt.”

Rowan smiled weakly. “Thanks for trying to reassure me.”

Lili let out a tired giggle. “I think I’m trying to reassure myself too, honestly.”

Alfred jumped on the bed then and went right to Rowan. Lili gave an irritated huff. “And now my cats here to comfort you.”

Rowan laughed then. “Yes, because Alfred is a good cat.” Rowan yawned then. “I think we should go to bed now. Faster we sleep, faster we can see Ben.”

Lili nodded. “Good plan as always. Good night.”

“Good night.”


	6. Revelio

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait yall! The editing of this chapter corresponded to That Thing happening to Rowan in the game, and that really made me not want to read over Lili and Rowan getting into a big fight ahahaha. Anyways, heres the new chapter!

Lili and Rowan went to breakfast before they visited Ben. It wasn’t that they thought food more important than their friend, but more that they hadn’t eaten since lunch the day before and their bodies were complaining about the lack of nourishment very loudly.

They ate quickly, eager to be off to the Hospital Wing. Lili made sure to stick some rolls up her sleeves so Ben could have some good quality food to eat after being missing for so long.

Madam Pomfrey glared at them the second they opened the Hospital Wing’s doors.

“And what are you two doing in here?”

Rowan shrank behind her and Lili felt like turning around herself; Madam Pomfrey had a scary glare.

“Er—we wanted to see if Ben was awake and if he was okay. We’re his friends.”

Madam Pomfrey’s glare didn’t soften. “He is not fit to have visitors currently.”

“Is he okay, though?” Rowan piped up from behind Lili’s shoulder.

“He should be. His memory is erratic, and he had the beginning of frost bite on his feet, but that has been healed. I have seen children in far, far worse condition in my time as Matron of Hogwarts.”

Lili and Rowan let out identical sighs of relief.

Madam Pomfrey was giving her an odd look. “You are Lili Brooks, yes?”

Surprised, Lili nodded. She didn’t know how Madam Pomfrey knew her name given Lili had never been in the Hospital Wing before. “Did… did Ben ask to see me?”

“Many times.” Lili went bug eyed at that. She didn’t know what to think about Ben calling out for her. Lili wasn’t sure if she was more uncomfortable or pleased. “Alongside other strange proclamations. I believe he’s experiencing some state of delirium. It’s understandable given his condition.”

“Then can I talk to him?” Lili asked, hoping the answer would be a “yes” this time.

“Mr. Copper is in delicate condition. He shouldn’t have visitors.”

“But… he asked for me.” Lili tried doing a puppy dog face, but Madam Pomfrey seemed immune to it.

A weak voice sounded from a curtain in the back. “Lili?”

Lili and Rowan gasped at the same time. “Ben!”

“Oh, please Madam Pomfrey can we talk to him? Please?” Rowan finally emerged from behind Lili to beg the Matron.

Madam Pomfrey sighed. “Be brief. I will allow five minutes of conversation before I eject you from the Hospital Wing. Mr. Copper is in too critical care for anything more.”

“Of course!”

“We’ll leave whenever you want!”

“Thank you!”

The two girls hurried over to the back of the room while Madam Pomfrey checked on someone lying on a cot in the front.

“Ben!”

Ben smiled weakly. “Hey Lili, Rowan.”

Rowan seemed to be holding back tears. “How are you feeling?”

“Cold. Tired. Sore. Not much different than usual, honestly.”

“Do you need anything?” Lili asked, trying not to hover the way Rowan was.

Ben leaned back against his pillows. “Seeing some friends is nice enough.”

Lili furtively looked around then took the rolls out of her sleeves. “We took some rolls from breakfast for you.”

Ben’s eyes lit up. “Thanks! I’m famished. I can’t remember when I ate last.”

Rowan sniffled while Ben tore into the rolls.

Lili felt her cheeks heating up slightly as she tried to get out what she wanted to ask next. “Er—Madam Pomfrey said that you mentioned my name?”

Ben’s cheeks went red and he looked down. “Did I? I don’t remember much. I feel like I’m losing it.”

Rowan lost it then. “Oh, Ben!” She threw herself forward and grabbed Ben in a hug. He squeaked and the food fell from his hands.

“What is going on here?” Madam Pomfrey was charging over to them. “I said he was in delicate condition, girl, get off of him right now!”

Reluctantly, Rowan let go. Her sniffles seemed to have evolved into tears. This finally seemed to make Madam Pomfrey soften.

“Now, now, you can visit later. You should be getting to class right about now anyways.”

Rowan wiped her face with her sleeve and nodded. “Alright. We’ll see you during our break before lunch, okay Ben?”

Ben nodded. “See you.”

“See you,” Lili said quietly.

She wrapped her arm around Rowan’s shoulder and led her out of the Hospital Wing. As she left, she heard Madam Pomfrey exclaim, “Why is there bread here?”

Lili closed the door. “Let’s head off to Transfiguration before Madam Pomfrey comes out to yell at us.”

Most people were still at breakfast, so the Transfiguration classroom was mostly empty. Besides Professor McGonagall, the only person in the room was that Ravenclaw kid who always managed to perform new spells first. Lili didn’t remember his name, but she did remember the time she saw him talking to owls in the Owlery and leaving without saying a word the second she walked in. She ignored him, and walked Rowan to their usual desk.

Professor McGonagall raised an eyebrow when she saw that Rowan was crying. “Ms. Khanna, are you all right?”

Rowan nodded miserably. “I’m fine,” she sniffled. “It’s just that we saw Ben in the Hospital Wing.”

That had been a mistake to say. Professor McGonagall’s face hardened. “And how do you happen to know that, Ms. Khanna? I told Professor Snape that I would inform you girls of Ben Copper being found in class this morning. I have no idea how you could have found out about him beforehand, considering all students were meant to be in the Great Hall at the time we found him and there was only one student in the Hospital Wing when we dropped him off and that student was still there when I checked in this morning.”

Rowan froze, and Lili tried to step in before Rowan made the situation worse.

“It was an accident! We were working on a school project together, and completely missed the start of the feast! We were walking to the Great Hall when we heard you and Professor Snape mention Ben being found, and we followed you two.” Lili hung her head in pretend shame. “We just wanted to know Ben was alright.”

That seemed to mollify Professor McGonagall. “Your dedication to your friend is admirable, girls. I would prefer if you didn’t sneak around, but I won’t punish you for being worried for your friend.” She paused. “And how is Mr. Copper? I visited him earlier, but he was asleep then.”

“He’s fine,” Lili said, relieved that they wouldn’t be in trouble and that Professor McGonagall didn’t find out about their excursion into the Gryffindor common room. “He was awake when we saw him and talking. Madam Pomfrey kicked us out after only a few minutes though.”

Professor McGonagall nodded. “Yes, she’s very protective over the students in her care. I’m glad to hear that he’s coherent enough to hold conversation. Thank you for informing me.”

Lili and Rowan nodded. The door opened then, and a group of Ravenclaws walked into the classroom.

“Now please get out your books. Class will begin shortly.”

“Yes, Professor McGonagall,” Lili and Rowan chorused.

They managed to get through Transfiguration and Potions without getting scolded, and made a dash for the Hospital Wing the second morning classes ended.

Ben was more awake and chipper this time, though Madam Pomfrey was less eager to see them. “Bringing food into my sterile environment, the nerve,” she muttered as she led them to Ben’s cot.

Ben’s smile was stronger this time. “She was very upset to see me eating.”

Rowan giggled. “Sorry if we got you into trouble.”

“It’s no problem.” Ben shrugged, then winced slightly.

Lili glanced around, making sure Madam Pomfrey was out of hearing range before she leaned forward. “Ben, can I ask a few questions?”

That natural uneasiness of his seemed to come back into Ben’s posture. He melted into his pillows and his smile turned into a twitching frown. “On what?” He sounded very guarded.

Lili hesitated; she wasn’t sure if she should be asking this now, but she had to know. “What were you doing in that corridor? How did you get trapped in the cursed ice?”

Ben didn’t look at her. “I don’t know. I don’t remember much about the past two months. Madam Pomfrey thinks it has to do with the unknown nature of the cursed ice.”

“We found this letter in the Artefact Room,” Lili barreled on, ignoring that Ben was shrinking in on himself and Rowan was glaring. “It told us to go to the Gryffindor common room, which led to another letter which led us to that corridor you were found in.”

“I don’t remember…”

“Do you know who R is? What they want with the Cursed Vaults?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know, I can’t remember anything…”

“You have to remember something! It was two months!”

“ _I said I don’t know_!”

Lili stepped back in shock. She had never heard Ben raise his voice before. He had stopped staring down at his hands, and was now glaring at her, brown eyes surprisingly fierce.

“Ben—”

Madam Pomfrey was on them swiftly. “What is going on here? How many times must I tell you two to not upset him!”

“But—” Rowan tried, but Madam Pomfrey silenced her with a glare.

“Out, _now_. And no more visiting privileges for you today! Ben needs to take his potions and rest.”

Lili and Rowan tried to argue, but Madam Pomfrey shut them down before they could get two syllables out.

“ _Out_.”

Lili’s shoulders slumped. “Bye Ben. Sorry for upsetting you.”

Ben wasn’t looking at her anymore. “It’s fine. Bye Lili.”

Rowan was sniffling again. “Bye Ben.”

“Bye Rowan.”

Madam Pomfrey was physically herding them to the door. “You’ve said your goodbyes, now leave.”

She shut the door in their faces.

Rowan whirled on her. “Why were you interrogating him like that?”

Lili’s jaw fell open. “What? Interrogating? I was just asking a few questions.”

“Yeah, that’s what interrogating means.”

“I wasn’t trying to upset him, Rowan.” Lili put her hands on her hips, and tried to keep her temper under control. She didn’t want to fight with Rowan. “I just wanted to know what he knows.”

“And he told you that he didn’t remember anything, but you kept pestering him.”

Lili had no idea what had gotten into Rowan’s head. “I’m sorry that I wanted to see if he knew anything about the Cursed Vaults. He’s been gone two months and was found in cursed ice, of course I thought he might have learned something.”

“Well, he didn’t, so you should have backed off.”

Rowan was giving her that judging look she reserved for stupid Gryffindor boys, and Lili’s temper broke through her control. “Why aren’t _you_ backing off right now? Why are you acting so _stupid_? All I did was ask a few questions, not hit him or anything. He’s fine, he’s probably sleeping right now. You’re the one making this _stupid_ fuss about nothing.”

“Why are being so mean?” Rowan had taken a step back, and her look of irritation had melted into hurt, but Lili continued, her anger getting the best of her.

“Because you’re acting like an idiot! Ben’s fine, we already figured that out, so there was nothing wrong with asking him about the Cursed Vaults. And, frankly, his reaction was really suspicious, and I’m not sure I totally believe he remembers nothing. He didn’t look me in the eyes once and that’s what liars do.”

Rowan clutched at the strap of her bag. “That’s not enough to go off of.”

“Yeah, it is.” Lili sneered at Rowan. “It’s simple body language. But you wouldn’t know, would you, since you spend all your time avoiding people with your head in a book.”

“That—that doesn’t have anything to do with this. I was just saying that you could’ve been nicer to Ben back there, that’s all!” Rowan’s lip quivered. “And you could be nicer to me right now too.”

Lili huffed. “Whatever. I was perfectly fine to Ben.” She didn’t refute that she was being mean to Rowan. Lili turned and stomped to the nearest door, which happened to lead outside. She slammed the door shut behind her.

She immediately regretted all her decisions. The second Lili stepped outside she was blasted by a gust of cold wind right in the face. She immediately began shivering, not having her cloak with her. But she couldn’t turn around and go back in to where Rowan was. Now that the cold wind had shocked the anger from her system, she realized that she had been pretty awful to Rowan. She huddled in on herself, and not just from the cold.

Lili felt ashamed, which was new. There was a part of her that had gotten used to lying to friends, since she had had to do it so often to Jenny, but she had never gotten in such a big fight with a friend before, and she had definitely never been the one who had been in the wrong in the fight. She huddled into her robes, trying to stay warm with just the simple garments.

She hadn’t walked far when she recognized someone she knew. She didn’t know Charlie Weasley well, but she didn’t want to be alone with her thoughts right now.

“Hey, Charlie!” She called out, awkwardly waving one arm while also trying to huddle in on herself for warmth.

Charlie stopped and turned. He seemed surprised that she called out to him, but he waited for her to catch up. “Hi, Lili. Er, do you want my cloak?”

Lili was touched he would offer his cloak, even if it was a sort of raggedy thing. “I’m good, I just left in a hurry. All my fault. Where are you going?”

“Oh, to Hagrid’s!” He pointed to a little cabin which had a steady plume of smoke rising from it. “He invited me for tea.” He paused. “Do you want to come? It’ll be warmer than out here, and I don’t think Hagrid will mind a second person.”

“Hagrid…” Lili tried to place the familiar name.

“Really tall fellow, he takes the first years over the Black Lake every year.”

“Oh, him! I know him.” Hagrid was the man who had saved her and Rowan from Merula’s Devil Snare prank. She immediately ignored that thought. She didn’t want to think about Rowan or Merula. “We met once.”

Lili tried to remember what had happened in the conversation afterword. She vaguely remembered him mentioning that he had tried to talk to Jacob before he had been kicked off Hogwarts grounds because he had been expelled too.

“So, do you want to come with?”

“Why not. I wasn’t sure where I was going to go to anyways. Might as well follow you.” She gave an unsteady smile.

Charlie didn’t seem to notice. “Great! It looks far away, but it’s not too far a walk.”

It may not have been too far a walk for Charlie, who was an athlete on a Quidditch team and regularly trained, but Lili’s legs felt sore by the time they reached Hagrid’s hut.

Charlie knocked several times on the door, and it opened wide to reveal an incredibly large man. “Charlie! Good ter see yeh! Eh, and who’s this?”

“This is Lili.” The two of them were ushered into Hagrid’s hut. “We bumped into each other and I invited her over for lunch.”

Hagrid’s gaze lingered for a second on the green on her robes, and Lili felt a flash of self-consciousness and a reemergence of her anger, but she squashed both down. He gave a big smile regardless of any misgivings he may have had.

“The more the merrier! Made some rock cakes ter go with the tea!”

Charlie and Hagrid spoke for most of the conversation, and Lili valiantly tried to keep up. She had no idea the difference between Peruvian Vipertooth’s and Hebridean Black’s. The only thing she knew was that they were both dragons. The tea was good, but she took one bite of a rock cake and politely ignored it after.

The only decent thing was that Hagrid owned a puppy who seemed to enjoy being pet. Lili didn’t get to interact with animals often, so she had fun petting the big puppy even if he slobbered all over her skirt. He was a good distraction from thinking about her fight with Rowan.

“Well, look’it that! He likes yeh.” Hagrid’s loud voice made her jump. The puppy had been resting its head on her lap and skittered nervously when she moved. She looked up to see Hagrid smiling at her. “Aw, didn’ mean ter scare him. He usually don’t like new people! Fang’s scared o’ most things out there despite lookin’ fierce.”

“Oh.” Lili blinked as Fang nervously padded back over to her. “He seems sweet.”

“Are you good with animals?” Charlie asked, leaning over to pet Fang too. The dog seemed to enjoy it.

“I don’t think I’ve been around enough animals to say,” Lili admitted. “I live in the middle of London. Only animal I see often is my cat.” She paused, then reluctantly added, “and he prefers Rowan over me.”

Her mouth twisted down. She didn’t want to think about Rowan.

“Ah, well, that’s cats fer yeh. Finicky creatures, they are.” He patted Fang’s head. “Nothin’ like dogs! Good loyal creatures, dogs. Always try ter own at least one fer work. Usually a big help, but Fang might need some more trainin’” He sounded affectionate though, as if he couldn’t wait to train Fang some more. Lili smiled at that; it was strangely cute.

Something occurred to her. “Oh, Charlie! Did Professor McGonagall tell you?”

Charlie stared her blankly. “Tell me what?”

“Ben was found!”

“Really?” Charlie jumped up from the table, knocking around some dishes and sending Fang skittering away again. “No, I hadn’t heard! When was he found?”

“Last night, during the feast.” Lili informed him. “Me and Rowan were visiting him earlier. We got kicked out for upsetting him, but Madam Pomfrey might let you in.” Lili frowned again. She wished she would stop having to mention Rowan.

“It’s good that he was found.” Hagrid was putting some dishes away as he spoke, stepping over a cowering Fang. “Professor Dumbledore was havin’ me search the edge of the Forbidden Forest ev’ry few hours fer the past few weeks. Can get some good sleep now.”

“Me too,” Charlie said with relief. “I’ve been worried about where he’s been and if he was hurt.” He turned to Lili, eyebrows suddenly drawn down in worry. “He isn’t hurt, is he?”

“He’s fine,” Lili assured him. “He doesn’t remember anything and was found in some cursed ice, but he’s been patched up.”

“Cursed ice?” Hagrid and Charlie said at the same time.

“How’d he get into cursed ice?” Charlie asked in amazement.

Lili shrugged. “He says he can’t remember.”

She didn’t add that she wasn’t sure she totally believed him. She didn’t think he was outright lying, but she wasn’t sure that that was the whole truth.

“Blimey, that’s unfortunate. Last time it took longer in the year fer the cursed ice ter take someone.”

Lili focused on Hagrid with interest. “Did it?”

“Only ever took people who were messin’ with it, fer the first few months. It wasn’ until spring and summer that it started attackin’ people.”

“Interesting,” was all Lili could say. That was good to know. Either the ice was spreading quicker this time—plausible considering its new invulnerability to the Knockback Jinx—or Ben had been attacking the ice.

This conversation seemed to be making Charlie nervous. Him shifting back and forth seemed to catch Hagrid’s attention and it appeared then that he realized he was talking to Jacob Brooks’ younger sister who was looking for the Cursed Vaults just like her brother.

“Er, o’ course, no one should be goin’ near the cursed ice!”

“Of course,” Lili nodded innocently.

“Right.” Charlie said loudly, grabbing his rucksack and putting it over his shoulder. “I wanted to talk about dragons some more, but I really want to see if I can visit Ben now. Sorry, Hagrid.”

Hagrid shook his head. “It’s no problem, Charlie! Go see ter yer friend.”

Charlie beamed. “I will.” He turned to Lili. “Do you want to come back to the castle with me?”

Lili nodded. “I think I will. Thank you for the tea, Hagrid.”

“No problem! Always like havin’ people over fer tea.” He collected the rest of the dishes. “Now stay away from that cursed ice, alrigh’?”

Lili and Charlie both dutifully nodded, then left. The wind was still cold, and Lili was shivering within minutes as they walked back to the castle.

“Are you sure you don’t want my cloak?”

“I’m fine. It’s not much farther.”

It was a bit farther, but Lili didn’t want to take Charlie’s cloak from him. He needed it too.

“So, Ben really doesn’t remember anything?”

Lili nodded. “Apparently. And don’t bother him about it.” Her voice turned bitter. “He’ll get upset and you’ll get kicked out and Rowan will yell at you.”

Charlie eyed her then looked away. There was a pause. “Er, did you have a fight with Rowan, then? I thought you looked kinda upset when you called out to me earlier. Had a kind of scary look on your face, though the pigtails didn’t make it _too_ scary.”

Lili tugged on one her pigtails as Charlie mentioned them. “Maybe.”

“Well, I’ve never fought with friends—I don’t have many of them—but I have a lot of siblings and fight with them a lot, and saying you’re sorry always works there.” Charlie shrugged. “If you need advice.”

Lili bit the inside of her cheek. She wanted to say something rude to Charlie for butting into something that wasn’t his problem, but she knew he was just trying to be nice. Politeness won out. “I’ll consider that,” she said as neutrally as possible.

Charlie didn’t seem to notice. He smiled as he bounded forward and opened the door for her. “Well then, here we are! I’m going to see if I can talk to Ben before afternoon classes start. Good luck with Rowan!”

He waved goodbye as he tugged on the large doors to the Hospital Wing. Lili stood in the foyer, unsure what to do. There was still enough time to eat something in the Great Hall. Or she could go down to her dorm. Lili wasn’t sure where Rowan was. She could be at either spot, or somewhere completely different. Lili hoped she was okay.

She trudged down to the dungeons. Her stomach was roiling at the thought of Rowan being alone and sad and she didn’t want to eat at that moment.

Being in the common room didn’t help. It seemed more crowded than usual, and Lili had to push her way through a gaggle of girls standing outside one of the 6th year dorms to get to her own dorm. They all seemed to be talking louder than usual, giving Lili a headache as their voices echoed in her head.

She froze as she opened the door. Rowan was there, curled up on her own bed, cuddling Alfred. Both girls stared at each other as Alfred darted away.

Lili bit her lip. She had to try.

“Hi, Rowan. Can we talk?”


	7. Quidditch Friendlies

Rowan physically moved so her back was to the door. “About what?” Lili winced. That was the coldest she had ever heard Rowan’s voice.

Lili closed the door and moved to sit on her own bed. “About the fight. I—um. I’m sorry.”

“Oh, are you?”

Lili desperately tried to stamp down her anger. Not holding it in is what got them into a fight in the first place. “Uh, I am.” She paused. She had no idea how to apologize to someone. “I didn’t mean to call you stupid,” she added hesitantly.

“Really? You said it enough times that I would’ve thought it was intentional.”

Lili looked down. “I was just angry, and I have a hard time controlling myself when I’m angry,” she managed to mumble out. She wanted Rowan back, but this apologizing thing was hard. She didn’t know how much more she could take before her anger got the best of her. Again.

“That sounds like a _you_ problem.”

Lili kicked the bed repeatedly. Maybe if she pummeled the bed, she wouldn’t get angry at Rowan.

“I… was really mean to you and I was angry, and I didn’t mean any of it. You’re really smart, and you were right that I was being awful to you.” Lili took a deep breath, trying to calm down. “I should’ve walked away and not talked. It’s my fault.”

She didn’t like saying any of that, even if she logically knew it was true. Lili couldn’t remember ever having to apologize this much before. It was awful, but she’d do it for Rowan.

Rowan finally turned around and Lili tried to relax her body. She was getting angry once more and she didn’t want Rowan to know that.

“Fine,” Rowan said eventually. “I’ll accept that apology. If only because we have to leave for class now and we work together.”

The two silently got their Herbology things together. The walk to the greenhouses was awkward. Lili didn’t want to say anything to upset Rowan again, and Rowan was still giving her the cold shoulder.

Penny and Tonks noticed the tension in the air during Herbology, and kept the conversation topics light and mainly between themselves. Lili was surprised—she hadn’t thought Tonks could show such restraint in not blurting things out.

Class ended eventually, but Lili wasn’t back to being in Rowan’s good graces.

“I’m going to the library to study,” Rowan announced after Professor Sprout told them to pack their bags. She glanced at Lili. “Alone.”

Rowan flounced away, while Lili’s shoulders slumped.

“I’m guessing you two got into a fight?”

Tonks had short pink hair, large ears, and red eyes, giving her a most odd look as she quirked a thick eyebrow up. At the very least, it gave Lili something to focus on besides Rowan ignoring her.

“Obviously.”

“What happened?” Penny asked, holding the door of Greenhouse 2 open for them.

Lili sighed. “I upset Ben and Rowan got upset with me. Then I said some mean things. It’s all my fault.” She still hated saying that even though it was true. She didn’t like being wrong.

Penny nodded. “I’d heard some rumors during lunch that Ben was back. How is he?”

“Fine. He doesn’t seem to remember anything, but he’s physically fine. Don’t know when he’ll be released from the Hospital Wing, though. Madam Pomfrey was very protective over him.”

Tonks snorted. “She’s protective over everyone in that room. I’m in there once a month for falling off moving staircases and she always wants to keep me in overnight.”

“Is that where you are, then?” Penny laughed. “But it’s good that Ben’s good! I’m so glad he was found; I was worried sick.”

“Me too.”

“I wasn’t, but it is good he was found.” Tonks added cheerfully.

Lili rolled her eyes at that. “Of course, you weren’t.”

They were back in the castle now and Lili stood around awkwardly, unsure of what to do. Her and Rowan usually split from Penny and Tonks right about now. The two Hufflepuffs would go wherever Hufflepuffs went, while Lili and Rowan went off to the library. Except Rowan didn’t want her in the library and Lili had no idea what to do.

Penny was staring at her. “Do you want to visit Ben with me, Lili?”

Lili sighed. “I can’t. Madam Pomfrey kicked me out for the rest of the day.”

“Oh.” Penny appeared to be thinking. “Then do you want to go watch a Quidditch friendly? There’s one going on in an hour or so. I can always visit Ben after dinner.” She glanced over to her housemate. “You can come too, Tonks.”

“No thanks!” Tonks waved as she began trudging away. “I have detention, which I really need to be getting to or I’ll get more detention. Professor McGonagall is such a stickler for arriving on time!”

Penny and Lili laughed. “I don’t even want to know what you did now,” Penny said, a smile on her face.

“It was fun, I can tell you that! See ya!”

They both waved goodbye to Tonks and Penny dragged her back outside. Lili wasn’t a Quidditch fan and she hadn’t known Penny was. Only big Quidditch fans went to Quidditch friendlies, so Penny had to be a really big fan.

“There’s time before it starts, so we should get our faces painted!”

“What? For a Quidditch friendly?”

“Yeah!” Penny beamed at her. “It’s fun to do, and it really gets you in the Quidditch spirit.”

Lili was amazed. Underneath the shadow of the Quidditch pitch, a few tables had been brought out and students were indeed doing face paint. Some were doing house colors, but others seemed to be doing whatever colors they wanted. Lili spotted someone painting pink butterflies, while the person next to them did a yellow snake.

“Penny, I never knew you were so into Quidditch.”

“Oh, I don’t play, but I do like to keep up with it!”

Keep up was simplifying things. Penny had to be a regular at these friendlies, as everyone waved to her and said hello.

Of course, what else would Lili have expected of Penny. She was the most popular girl in their year. She was smart and pretty and kind. Who wouldn’t want to be her friend and take up her time?

_But she’s spending time with me right now_ , Lili thought, very pleased whenever Penny waved away someone she knew in order to drag Lili to a specific table. She had no idea why Penny had decided they were friends last year, but she was glad. Despite that Lili had had trouble with popular girls before, she knew she would never have that problem with Penny. She was too genuine and good to ever be some mean girl who insulted people.

“Alright! Face Paint Kid, would you do Lili’s face up? It’s her first Quidditch friendly!”

A short haired kid turned around and Lili’s eyebrows went up. They had a variety of colors on their face styled to look like a watercolor rainbow. It seemed to be enchanted too as the colors would occasionally rearrange their order. They were wearing Slytherin robes, and Lili knew the kid was in their year, but she couldn’t place a name.

“Face Paint Kid?”

They scoffed. “My real name is ridiculous. I prefer Face Paint Kid. Now sit down and shut up.”

Lili did as she was told, and listened in bafflement as Face Paint Kid and Penny started up a lively discussion about Quidditch odds in the professional leagues. This was a very different side to her friend, and Lili was glad that Penny was showing it to her. Introducing friends to different friend groups meant you were close friends, right?

Soon enough, Penny was lifting a mirror up to show her the face paint. Lili was surprised with what she saw; she didn’t know what she expected, but it certainly hadn’t been a green snake that slithered around her jaw line.

“This is—this is awesome! How did you do this so quickly?”

Face Paint Kid looked pleased with their self. “Magic,” they replied smugly.

“Thank you, Face Paint Kid! See you in the stands!” Penny was dragging her away one more. She had also gotten her face painted while Lili had, though hers was much more subdued; two green and silver rectangles on her cheeks.

“Slytherin colors?”

“Yeah!” Penny laughed as they started the climb up to the stands. “I’m a big fan of the Wigtown Wanderers, have been ever since I lived there for a year as a kid. They were started by the Parkin family and currently there’s a Parkin on the Slytherin team. And since I was a Parkin fan way before a Hufflepuff,” Penny turned slightly pink here, “I usually cheer for Slytherin whenever they play. Not against Hufflepuff of course, though the temptation is strong sometimes.”

“Parkin… yeah, Rowan’s mentioned her before. She’s on the Slytherin team as a Chaser, you know.” Lili tried to remember all that Rowan had said about her teammates. The only thing that stood out was Lili’s satisfaction when she heard that Davenport, the older boy who had said that Jacob run away to join You-Know-Who, had been kicked off the team for bad grades and there was a new captain this year.

“I do know! I’ve seen her a few times at the friendlies.” Penny winked. “Being a reserve and showing up to friendlies is a good way to get onto the team, I’m told. Shows you have dedication.”

“Well, Rowan is certainly away enough to prove her dedication to the team.” Lili tried not to let bitterness creep into her voice, but she failed miserably.

Penny sent her a concerned look and linked their arms together, pulling Lili closer to her. It was a bit harder to walk up stairs this way, but Lili relished the close contact. “Are you and Rowan okay?”

Lili sighed. “I hope so. It’s really weird not being by her side all the time, and I don’t like it.”

Penny giggled. “It is kind of weird being here with you and without her.” Her expression turned more serious. “I’m sure everything will be fine, though. All friends fight.”

“Do you fight with friends?” Lili was genuinely curious; she couldn’t imagine Penny getting into a fight with anyone.

“Not really,” Penny admitted to Lili’s amusement, “but it’s something that’s bound to happen in really close friendships, like you and Rowan.”

“Probably.” Lili sighed again. “I just hope she comes around soon. I think I’ve found the location to a Cursed Vault and I wanted to check it out with her.”

Penny gasped. “When did you find something out? I thought you weren’t searching for the Vaults right now. Have you searched the area yet?”

Lili giggled at Penny’s questions and serious expression. She had forgotten how much Penny had enjoyed their trip into the icy corridor. “I wasn’t searching for them specifically—I had been looking into a clue I had found about Ben.” She told an enraptured Penny everything that had happened on Halloween.

Did all that only happen the day before? It felt like it had been so much longer.

“Well, that’s very exciting,” Penny observed. By the time Lili had finished, they had made it to the bleachers and sat down in what Penny assured her were great seats. “When do you think you’ll search this new corridor?”

“I don’t know,” Lili admitted. “I was hoping to talk it over with Rowan today, but…” She trailed off. But then she and Rowan had gotten into a big fight and Lili didn’t know when Rowan would speak to her again.

“But the fight.” Penny said and Lili nodded miserably. “Well—oh!”

Her exclamation came from the fact that the Quidditch pitch was suddenly full of Quidditch players and the small crowd in the stands were cheering loudly.

“It’s starting!” Whatever Penny had been about to say was forgotten. She was in Quidditch mode now. “I think todays match is a Slytherin vs Ravenclaw scrimmage and—”

She was drowned out by a booming voice. “Alright then, let’s get this Quidditch friendly started!”

Lili looked over at Penny. “There’s an announcer for friendlies?”

Penny laughed. “That’s Murphy McNully. He’s a few years older than us and he just really loves Quidditch. He’d announce a match between five-year-old’s if it meant getting to talk about Quidditch.”

“—and off the players go!”

The next forty-five minutes was the most unique Quidditch experience Lili had had yet. She had gone to every game with Rowan before, but it was different being in the stands with Penny. Every time Slytherin had the quaffle, and specifically if Skye Parkin had the quaffle, she would grab Lili’s hand and raise their entwined fists into the air. By the time the match was nearing its potential end, Lili’s cheeks were flushed, and she wasn’t sure if it was just because of the cold air. Penny wasn’t usually this physically close with her, but Lili liked it. Of course, Lili liked physical affection of any kind, but it seemed better whenever it came from Penny.

The only downside was when a bludger almost hit Lili in the head. One of the Ravenclaw beaters, Wrath or something, had hit it into the stands. Before Lili could even blink, another broom was in the air and a bat came out of nowhere to hit the bludger away. It had been maybe half a meter away from her face.

Penny had gone white and pulled Lili close to her. If Lili hadn’t been so shocked, she would have blushed at suddenly having her face shoved against Penny’s. As it was, she was more preoccupied with the fact that a bludger almost hit her in the face.

“Does that happen often in Quidditch friendlies?” Lili asked into Penny’s shoulder.

“No,” Penny said, finally easing up on her grip as the announcer declared that the Ravenclaw seeker had caught the snitch. “Bumphing is not a normal thing.”

Lili didn’t take the time to wonder what bumphing was. It was some Quidditch foul she was sure. “Well. That was terrifying.”

Penny let out a shaky breath. “It really was. Usually Madam Hooch is there to get the bludger, but she was at the other side of the pitch. Good thing Skye Parkin was there! I didn’t even see her get that beaters bat!”

“Was that Skye Parkin?” Lili hadn’t been able to tell, more preoccupied with the bludger in front of her face.

People were beginning to leave the stands, but Penny peered over the edge of the box. “Yes, it was. I always knew she was a good player, but she must be a good person too! And—good. Madam Hooch seems to be yelling at Erika Rath. I hope she gets pulled from Ravenclaw’s next match. That was an awfully dangerous thing for her to do.”

Penny leaned back and looped her arm through Lili’s. “I’m so sorry your first Quidditch friendly went like that.”

Lili shrugged. She was pretty sure she was in shock and that’s what was making her so nonchalant. “It could have happened at proper game too.”

“That would be awful too.” Penny laughed. “I hope this hasn’t soured you on Quidditch.”

“Well,” Lili smiled awkwardly. “I’ve never really been a Quidditch fan in the first place.”

Penny clapped a hand to her cheek and moaned. “I took you to something you hate to cheer you up. I thought I was good at this!”

Lili laughed, the tension from her close encounter with the bludger easing away. “I didn’t mind! It’s cheering enough to spend time with you.”

Penny smiled at her then. “Well, that’s good I suppose. I’m sorry if I didn’t ask if you even like Quidditch before dragging you here. I’ve always assumed everyone likes Quidditch.”

“I don’t dislike it.” Lili shrugged. “I’m just not into flying and things surrounding flying.”

“Not everyone is.” Penny nodded sagely, and Lili copied her. Both girls burst into giggles. “Right. Let’s get back to the castle then. I think dinner is about to start.”

Lili’s mood had shot up by the time they were back at the castle. Just speaking with Penny made her feel better. She was sad when they had to part and sit at opposite ends of the Great Hall. She smiled at Penny as they stood in the hall’s large doorway.

“Thank you for taking me to the friendly, Penny. I could’ve done without the bludger, but I did have a good time, and I really do love this snake face paint.”

Penny beamed. “I’m glad I could cheer you up. You were looking so sad after Rowan left, that I felt I had to do something. I’m happy I succeeded.”

“You really did,” Lili said, putting as much sincerity in her voice as she could. She wanted Penny to know how much she appreciated their afternoon together.

Penny blushed and looked away. “I’m glad. I’ll see you soon then?”

“Of course!” Lili waved and watched as Penny walked over to the Hufflepuff table. She was immediately accosted by other people and pulled into a conversation.

Lili walked over to her own table. It seemed Rowan was skipping dinner, as Lili didn’t see her there. She sat down far away from the others and silently ate.


	8. The Hidden Staircase

Rowan didn’t start talking to Lili until after the Gryffindor-Slytherin Quidditch match, a week and a half after their argument.

It was a miserable ten days.

Lili had gone to the match—of course she had, what if Rowan got to play, she couldn’t miss that—but it wasn’t like previous matches, and definitely not like the friendly she had gone to with Penny. It was incredibly lonely sitting by herself in the stands, being around cheering people but having no one to cheer with.

That was what every day after her fight with Rowan felt like. They spent time together, sat next to each other at their usual spots in class, but Rowan barely spoke to her beyond what was necessary. It made Lili ache. She went through all her usual routines—meals, classes, homework, Fencing and Transfiguration Club—but without Rowan by her side, Lili felt disheartened. She wanted her friend back. She was miserable.

Slytherin didn’t win the match. Charlie was the new Gryffindor Seeker and Lili was shocked at how good he was at it. He had managed to catch the Golden Snitch within twenty minutes, which even Lili knew to be very quick. The game ended at 180-60 for Gryffindor.

Even with the loss, her first Quidditch game as a team member seemed to thaw out Rowan’s iciness. She started inviting Lili back to their study sessions, and for the first time, Lili happily went and studied. She was so glad Rowan was willing to spend time with her she didn’t even mind studying. By the end of November, Lili and Rowan were back on speaking terms. It wasn’t perfect, but it felt like their friendship from before the fight and Lili couldn’t be happier.

With Rowan was talking to her again, that also meant that Lili could focus on her search for the Cursed Vaults once more.

Lili had gone to the fifth floor corridor, but two of the three times she had gone, a professor had been patrolling the corridor and Lili had left without actually looking into it. The third time, she made it into the corridor, but it had just felt _wrong_. She didn’t have anyone with her to watch her back, or check over areas she wouldn’t think to check. Lili had quickly left, feeling more demoralized than if she hadn’t been able to sneak in.

So once Rowan was back to spit balling ideas with her, Lili was beyond thrilled. There didn’t seem to be a pattern to when the professors patrolled, so they decided that the middle of the day was probably best for this mission.

“We’re second years,” Rowan had reasoned, “we have more breaks during the day than any other year, except for some N.E.W.T students. If we go during a break and before lunch, there likely won’t be anyone guarding the corridor—they’re too busy teaching.”

Lili brought up the subject of bringing Penny with them. She was hesitant to do so—she wasn’t sure how Rowan would react and didn’t want her to think that Lili was replacing her with Penny. But Rowan took the news that Penny wanted to join them on another adventure graciously.

All she did was nod. “Penny was a big help last year. I’m sure she’d be useful this year, too.”

They decided to enter the corridor on a Friday—the three of them had Potions before their break and could sneak off to the fifth floor together.

The area around the corridor was dark and freezing. There were no lights, not even from windows, and the three girls had to use Lumos to get around. Something was glinting on the ceiling, and Lili saw frost there.

“We’re definitely in the right area,” she said, staring at the slowly creeping frost. Penny stared silently while Rowan gulped audibly.

All it took was an Alohomora to get through the door and inside the corridor they went.

The corridor still looked like it had the night Ben was found, but even more covered in ice if that were possible. The icicles on the ceiling were thicker and closer to the ground, and the slabs of ice scattered throughout the corridor had grown larger and greater in number.

Penny inhaled sharply behind her. “This is even icier than the other corridor.”

“And there’s more cursed ice than the last time we were here.”

Rowan pushed her glasses up her face. “How are we going to search? _What_ are we searching for?”

“I… don’t know.” Lili glanced around. “Hey, what are those books doing there?”

It was difficult, but Lili managed to skid over to the bench holding the books. “Be careful to avoid the ice!” She shouted at her friends behind her. “Hagrid mentioned they only attack people who bother them first.”

Penny made an _eep_ noise and skidded away from a slab of ice she was about to run into. She landed ungracefully on her bum, but the ice didn’t try to eat her.

After making sure Penny was okay, Lili turned to the books. “Hey, I recognize these.” They were her books. Not hers specifically, but the textbooks that current second years would own. Their Transfiguration book was open to the table of contents and frozen to the bench that way. Lili picked up the Charms book that was relatively unfrozen.

Opening the cover made her gasp. There was an inscription: _This book belongs to_ _Ben Copper_.

“These are Ben’s textbooks!” Lili gasped in amazement.

Rowan and Penny were crowding in behind her. “Really?”

Lili showed them front cover. Rowan gasped and Penny covered her mouth in shock.

“Why would he bring his textbooks here?”

Lili looked gravely at her friends. “A better question is why is the Transfiguration textbook the only one that’s open?”

She peered down at the table of contents. Why was it open to this…? Lili ran a finger down the spells listed and stalled when she reached Revelio listed under the _Untransfiguration Spells_ heading.

Revelio.

A charm that reveals invisible objects and exposes somethings true appearance.

_The Ice Knight stands guard past the Vanished Stairs_.

“I think I know what to do.” Lili knew she had gone bug eyed, but she didn’t care. She felt breathless with the revelation which had just come upon her. She brought up her wand. “Revelio.”

Lili held her breath. She hadn’t tried that spell since she had learned it back during that first Transfiguration club meeting. She didn’t even know if there was something that needed to be revealed.

All three girls gasped as the wall next to the bench wavered and then began to disappear, revealing a staircase.

Unlike the corridor, the staircase was strangely free of ice. It was almost golden, with how clean and new its pale yellow bricks looked. It led up to a landing, before turning and leading off somewhere unknown, somewhere that sent a fog over the landing.

“Merlin’s Beard,” Rowan breathed out. “An actual hidden passageway.”

“I can’t believe it.” Penny was gawking harder than Rowan. “A hidden passage. This is so exciting.”

Lili carefully made her way to the staircase’s entrance. It was easier climbing up the stairs than navigating the corridor. She was amazed, not at the revelation of the staircase, but at the stairs themselves. “It’s the stairs from my vision.”

Noises stopped behind her.

“Vision?” Penny inquired. Of course. Lili had never mentioned that to anyone but Rowan, and accidentally to Dumbledore.

“Lili had a vision once, of stairs and a knight and ice covering Hogwarts.” Rowan informed her. The two had finished their struggle and was standing on less icy ground alongside Lili, but Lili wasn’t looking at them. She was finally going to see something from her vision. She might finally be getting some answers.

She began climbing the stairs.

“An unexplored area of Hogwarts!” She heard Rowan exclaim behind her. “This really is so exciting!”

The mist was cool against her ankles. Lili was glad that the Potions classroom was so cold in winter that it was acceptable to bring a heavy cloak to it. She didn’t want to think about how freezing she would be without it right now.

She turned on the landing and her breath caught.

“Wow….”

“I can’t believe it….”

The landing led to two large, oak doors which were heavily decorated and already open. Through the doors was a large chamber with an arched roof dozens of meters above their heads. Lining the walls were suits of armor in niches and torches burning green fire. It was similar to the décor seen throughout Hogwarts, but it felt different in this room. There was something beautiful but sinister about it.

But the crowning jewel of the room was what was at the end of the chamber. A large entrance stood at the end. It was a vivid shade of blue which almost didn’t seem real. It was misty and opaque and almost pulsating as it shielded whatever lay behind it.

Lili stepped forward and there was a crunch beneath her feet. The floor was now made of blue and red marble laid in a diamond pattern and covered in a fine layer of frost. It wasn’t the icy floors of the outside corridor, but the cursed ice had overtaken this area too it seemed.

Her eyes wandered farther and then widened. She pointed at what was in front of them. “Footsteps!”

Rowan and Penny had still been taking in the wonders of the chamber and their heads snapped in her direction as she broke the silence. Rowan stepped forward. “Footsteps? Whose? How, when?”

Lili tried to stifle the hope rising within her. _What if they’re Jacob’s_ , part of her still whispered. There was only one set. It could be. She didn’t think her brother worked with anyone. But it was impossible to tell anything from the footsteps. Whether they belonged to Jacob, or anyone else would be a mystery.

“How recent would they have to be?” Penny asked, kneeling next to one imprint. “The frost hasn’t covered them back up. Because it happened recently, or because the frost doesn’t move like the ice?”

“I don’t know.” Lili bit her lip, then immediately stopped. It was cold enough in the room that her lips were chapped, and even a small bite led to them beginning to bleed. She looked over to the misty, pulsating entrance. “I guess we’ll have to go through there to find anything out.”

Getting near the thing set Lili’s teeth chattering, even with her winter cloak. She reached her hand out, then immediately pulled it back. Just putting her hand near the entrance had covered her dragonhide gloves in a thick layer of frost. Lili took a few steps back, thinking. Rowan and Penny were chattering behind her, but she ignored them.

She held up her wand. “Flipendo.”

The result was instantaneous. The pulsating mist seemed to harden into ice, then turn clear. Lili took a few steps forward. There was no barrier, and though she was still freezing, she wasn’t being covered in a layer of frost.

Twin gasps came from behind her. “How’d you know to do that?”

Lili finally looked back at her friends. They were staring at her in awe, in a way that made her feel slightly uncomfortable.

“I dunno. The cursed ice was originally broken by Flipendo, so maybe that was… it was a hunch!” Lili couldn’t properly explain what had been going through her head. It was all instinct. She turned around to focus on the awe-inspiring room in front of her.

It looked like a beautiful, deadly, palace throne room. It shared the vaulted ceiling of the previous room, the same arched columns and niches, but it was made entirely of ice. The room was almost blinding with how bright and shining it was. And leading up from steps of ice, was another door. It was large and imposing like the previous door, and again made completely of ice. A large crystalline pattern covered the door, beautiful, but aggravating to Lili. She needed to get through that door to find her brother. She didn’t need another puzzle.

With a wary look at the dangerously large icicles hanging from the ceiling, Lili strode forward. Surprisingly, it was easier to walk on this ice than on the ice in the corridor. Perhaps because this seemed to be made of ice and not covered in ice? She didn’t know and didn’t really care. She wanted to get to the door.

“Incredible.” Rowan whispered behind her.

“This might be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” Penny murmured in agreement.

They hadn’t followed her into the room yet. Lili didn’t care. She was doing this for herself and her brother. She didn’t need the others for this part. This had to be the entrance to the Cursed Vault.

Lili had reached the door. She held out a shaking hand and touched its freezing surface.

She dropped to the ground with a cry.

Images assaulted her brain, like they had the year before. A dark room but Lili could make out the outline of book spines, the lettering on them almost glowing in the dark. Another room, brighter this time, but cluttered with too many items and papers to register much besides a door outline made in chalk. And—Jacob?

“Lili!” Two voices rang out behind her, and she registered that Rowan and Penny were now kneeling beside her.

Rowan was holding her shoulder. “Lili? Are you okay? Is it another vision? This is what it looked like when she had her previous one.” She knew that must have been directed to Penny. Dimly, Lili realized her head was in her hands and she was weeping. She didn’t know why. Her head hurt so much.

Rowan and Penny made comforting noises and eventually all the pain in her brain began to recede. All her senses felt fuzzy and she couldn’t think straight, but she had stopped crying. She finally looked up.

Penny had gone white, and seemed terrified as she kneeled beside Lili and held her hand. Rowan’s lip was wobbling, but she held it together better than Penny.

Lili took a deep breath. “I—” her voice cracked, and she cleared her throat. “I’m okay. I had another vision when I touched the door.”

“I gathered.” Rowan said, but relief was clear on her face. She was glad that Lili was back to talking and wasn’t crying anymore. That had been scary.

“Is it always like that?” Penny was still white as a sheet. She had never seen anything worse in her life, than watching her friend drop to the ground like that. And her awful shriek as she did so was haunting. “That was horrid. Are you okay? Truly okay?”

Lili nodded, unsure how she knew exactly how her friends were feeling. She was so confused. There was too much in her head.

She managed to stutter out what she saw to her friends. She didn’t mention seeing Jacob. She didn’t know what to make of that bit. It was freezing sitting there on the ground, but Lili wasn’t sure she could move just then.

“Not as threatening as before.” Rowan mused. “And no words this time.”

Lili shook her head and immediately regretted doing so. Her head really hurt.

“This place is beautiful, but I don’t think I like it.” Lili realized Penny was shaking. She wondered whether it was from the cold or fear. “I think it’s playing mind games with all of us. I feel so scared and tired all of a sudden.”

“I think that’s a normal reacti—AH!”

All three girls joined in on that shriek as a beam of ice was fired from the door and hit right in front of them. They desperately tried to get up and run on the slippery floor. Lili’s head pounded and she felt awful, but panic and adrenaline were taking over.

She slipped and fell, but got back up as quickly as she could. The door was firing more beams. Lili had had no idea a door could do that. It was terrifying.

Another shriek came from Rowan and Lili’s heart dropped to her feet. A beam had hit her best friend.

Rowan went flying, skidding across the icy floors and flopping down the small set of stairs.

“ROWAN!” Lili and Penny screamed at the same time.

Lili didn’t care about her own aches and hurt anymore; she had to get to Rowan. Somehow, she made it to her friend before Penny. A hysterical laugh of relief came from her mouth as she realized that Rowan was still breathing. She couldn’t imagine the worse option happening.

As Penny joined her and helped her pick Rowan up, she became aware that she was beyond grateful that Penny was with them. Lili didn’t know how she would have gotten both herself and an unconscious Rowan out of the room without the taller and healthier girl.

The two of them stumbled out, dragging Rowan between them. The second they hit the chamber with the frosted floor, the ice beams stopped, but the girls continued their hurried pace. Rowan needed a Healer.

To Lili’s surprise, there weren’t any people roaming the hallways. _Lunch must have already ended_ , she realized. Some part of her hoped they wouldn’t get in trouble with Professor Sprout for skipping Herbology. Poor Tonks was in the greenhouses completely without any partners. A giggle burst through her at that. When was Tonks ever someone to be pitied? She was probably having the time of her life knocking over pots.

Lili didn’t like how frequently she was giggling. Wasn’t that a sign of shock or hysteria or something?

She didn’t care. They had made it to the Hospital Wing.

They burst through the doors, and Madam Pomfrey turned, presumably to yell at them, before going stiff with shock. “Bring her here, girls.” She ordered.

The complied, and Madam Pomfrey helped them situate Rowan on a cot near the door. Madam Pomfrey immediately began examining Rowan.

“What spell hit her? I need to know.”

Lili and Penny shook their heads. They didn’t know, and they didn’t know how to even explain what had just happened.

Madam Pomfrey sighed, and went back to Rowan. She did spells nonverbally, and Lili couldn’t keep up. She was beginning to shiver, and Penny was too.

Some older girl came up to them, two potions in hand. “Drink these,” she said kindly. “It seems you two were somewhere cold and need some warming up.”

Lili nodded her thanks while Penny verbalized it with a lot of stuttering. The potion immediately warmed her up and her shivering gradually receded. She could do without the smoke coming out of her ears, but her dignity wasn’t important right then.

“H-how’s Rowan?” She managed to get out.

“Hush.”

Lili hushed.

That seemed to make Madam Pomfrey glance over at her. “Are you okay, dear?”

Her head was pounding, and she was worried sick, but Madam Pomfrey didn’t need to worry over her. She needed to focus on Rowan. She shook her head and winced.

Madam Pomfrey immediately was at her side. “Besides some frostbite on her leg, your friend seems fine, just unconscious. You seem to be the one needing a looking after now. Get on a cot. Now. Get on it.”

Lili was too tired to argue. She got on the cot.

Madam Pomfrey turned to Penny. “Are you hurt?”

Penny shook her head. “They were the ones who got hurt. I’m fine.” She paused. “Maybe a bit shaken.” She admitted in a small voice.

Madam Pomfrey’s eyes softened. “Rebecca can get something for your nerves. I’d send you off to class, but I’d like to keep an eye on you too. Sit in any of the chairs available.”

Penny nodded gratefully and sat. The older girl, Rebecca, appeared with a potion once more and gave it to Penny as Madam Pomfrey moved to check over Lili.

“Now what’s wrong with you, Ms. Brooks. And don’t say you’re fine.” She snapped. Lili shut her mouth. She had been going to say that.

“My head just hurts a bit, is all.”

“Of course, it does.” Madam Pomfrey made some complicated wand motions and frowned. “Odd, but fixable.”

She bustled off to get something from behind the far back curtain. “Drink this. It tastes bad, but it’ll drive the headache away.” Madam Pomfrey was still frowning as she watched Lili force the awful tasting potion down. Lili heard her mutter as she walked away to check over Penny more thoroughly. “Must tell Albus… no idea how that sort of head damage could hurt the girl… Severus perhaps?”

Lili carefully remembered that bit of dialogue, which she could do again as her headache was easing up.

“Alright then, you seem to be fine. I’ll send Rebecca off with a note to whoever your professor is right now saying you lot are excused from your afternoon classes.” She gave something to Penny. “I want you to go back to your dorm and rest while I keep these two here.”

Lili sat up. “I don’t—”

“You will. Sit back down.”

Lili sat down. She already couldn’t wait to leave.

-x-x-x-

The Hospital Wing was boring. She got to watch Madam Pomfrey and a rotating selection of students go around doing menial tasks. Beyond having a small chat with Chiara Lobosca about what she missed in Herbology, it was so, so boring. Lili hated it.

The doors opened after she was given a measly dinner of soup. Lili’s stomach dropped as Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Talcifer, and Sprout walked in. She slumped down in her cot.

Madam Pomfrey hurried over to the professors and spoke quietly to them. Lili couldn’t hear what they were saying, but they kept glancing over in her direction. Madam Pomfrey said something and Professor Dumbledore shook his head. He began walking over to Lili.

“Lili.” He was smiling but Lili wasn’t.

“Professor Dumbledore.”

“Would you like to explain what happened to you, Ms. Khanna, and Ms. Haywood?”

“No.”

His smile faltered slightly, and Lili felt a small victory at that.

Professor Talcifer frowned. “Lilith Brooks, you do not speak to you Headmaster like that.”

Dumbledore waved a hand at her. “She is a young lady, Candora, she’s merely asserting her teenage independence.” He glanced down at her, one half-moon lens turning white as it caught a glare. “Last time we spoke you mentioned a vision, Lili. Would you have perhaps had another one recently?”

The female professors exchanged glances, and Lili shrunk more into her cot. “Maybe, maybe not.”

“Would you like to share the vision?”

“No.”

Dumbledore sighed. “I’m going to assume I will not get more information from you, will I, Lili.”

Lili shrugged. “Probably not,” she answered honestly.

An indignant noise came from one of the professors, but she was looking away from all of them. “Will I have to stay the night?” She asked to Madam Pomfrey, barely glancing over in the Healer’s direction.

Madam Pomfrey sighed. “You can leave after you take this last potion.” She glanced at Professor Dumbledore. “Unless the Headmaster has anything else to say?”

Dumbledore smiled. “Only that I think your robes look wonderful today, Poppy.”

To Lili’s horror, Madam Pomfrey _giggled_. “You need to stop saying such things, Albus.”

At that exchange, Lili felt sick for the first time that day. She finally looked up so the adults could properly acknowledge her horror at having to hear this.

The professors seemed as thrilled as Lili did. “You’re not going to ask more, Albus?” Professor McGonagall asked, giving Lili a tightlipped look of disappointment.

Dumbledore shook his head. “I cannot force her to speak if she does not want to, Minerva. I’m sure Lili will tell all when the time is right.”

Lili scoffed internally; like she’d ever tell Dumbledore anything about the Cursed Vaults. She’d die before doing that.


	9. Rowan's Recovery

Lili didn’t sleep well that night. All she could see was Rowan falling after being hit by that ice beam. She skipped breakfast and went right to the Hospital Wing after she woke up. Lili wanted to see if Rowan was awake, but she also knew that there would be already be rumors about what she had done and didn’t want to her people whispering about her. Not when Rowan was hurt.

To her surprise, Ben and Penny were waiting in the foyer outside the Hospital Wing.

Penny gave a shaky smile as Lili walked over to them. “I thought you would come here and skip breakfast.”

“I didn’t want to deal with rumors.” Lili said shortly.

Penny sighed. “For once, me too. I’ve already heard the start of the gossip and I don’t want to hear any more.”

“I’ve only heard bits—what happened?” Ben twisted the sleeves of his robes nervously. He had only just left the Hospital Wing two weeks back—he probably wasn’t keen on coming back for a visit.

“We went into a Cursed Vault.” Lili lowered her voice. “Really went. We saw the door to the Vault and everything, but it’s protected by some—some _ice beam_ that hit Rowan and knocked her unconscious.”

Ben gaped at them. “Are you serious?”

Lili nodded while Penny sighed. “It was a beautiful room but—I don’t know if I want to go back. That was terrifying.”

“It was,” Lili agreed. “But I’m going back the second we figure out how to fight that ice beam. I need to find my brother.”

She walked forward, opening the door to the Hospital Wing. Penny and Ben exchanged a look behind her and followed.

Madam Pomfrey stared at them with her hands on her hips. “I shouldn’t be allowing all three of you to visit, but I know you students are stubborn.” Her stare turned into a glare. “Just be quiet.”

Three meek _yes Madam Pomfrey_ ’s rang through the room which seemed to satisfy her.

Rowan was unmoving on the cot and Lili’s heart twisted. She hated seeing Rowan like this. Rowan wasn’t the most energetic person, but it was still so odd and unnatural to see her completely still.

“This is my fault,” Lili whispered, flopping down in a seat next to Rowan.

“Don’t say that, Lili.” Penny said, putting a hand on Lili’s shoulder.

“Yeah, don’t blame yourself.”

Lili gasped at Rowan’s voice. She felt tears well up in her eyes. “Rowan! You’re okay!”

Rowan smiled weakly. “Feel like I got hit by the Knight Bus, but I’m alright.”

“Are you sure?”

Rowan nodded. “Madam Pomfrey thinks I should be okay with rest. I’ll be here a few days though, since we don’t know if there will be any side effects to—whatever it was that happened.” She frowned. “I’m actually kind of fuzzy on what did happen.”

“You were hit by one of the ice beams from the door,” Penny supplied.

Rowan sighed. “I thought so.” She perked up. “At least it’s Saturday, so I won’t miss much class!”

Lili, Penny, and Ben laughed. Only Rowan would be excited about that.

After ten minutes, Ben and Penny filed out to go eat some breakfast and Lili stayed behind. She wanted to talk to Rowan one on one, and spent another two hours by Rowan’s side. Lili was pretty sure Madam Pomfrey wanted to kick her out and only let her stay so she could observe Lili too. She hadn’t been happy about letting Lili go back to her dorm the night before.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” She asked in a lowered voice.

“I am really!” Rowan shivered despite her words. “I’m tired and achy and it still feels like the cold in that room was sapping all my strength, but I’ll get better.”

Lili nodded. “Before we go back, we’ll have to figure out some Heating Charms for ourselves, so the cold doesn’t bother us as much.”

Rowan didn’t look at her. “Next time…”

Something cold began to form in Lili’s stomach. “Yes, next time.”

“Lili…” Rowan began then paused. “I don’t know if I want to go back to the Vault,” she admitted quietly.

“What? Why not?”

Lili knew that was a stupid question as she said it. Of course, she knew why not; she was next to Rowan in a cot in the Hospital Wing.

Rowan wasn’t looking at her. “I’ll help with research; I like doing that, but—I don’t know. I’m not strong or talented enough to be going into the actual Vaults. It—it was really scary being near that door, and part of me,” she paused for a second before continuing in a barely audible whisper. “Part of me thought we all were going to die in there. I was so scared.” She sniffled.

Lili didn’t know what to do. She understood where Rowan was coming from, but she didn’t want to go into any of the Cursed Vaults without her best friend. “It’s—we can talk about it later. When you’re feeling better.”

Rowan nodded miserably. “Sorry for failing you.”

“Don’t say that!”

“Girls,” came Madam Pomfrey’s warning. “Lowered voices, please.”

“Don’t say that,” Lili repeated in a whisper. “You’ve never let me down in anything, ever!”

Rowan’s mouth twitched upward, but it wasn’t a proper smile. “I’ll take your word for it.” She yawned. “I think I’m going to sleep now. See you later, Lili.”

-x-x-x-

Rowan still wasn’t in class by Wednesday.

“Madam Pomfrey says this is probably the last day,” Rowan informed her that morning. “We don’t know what hit me, so she just wants to be cautious.”

Lili understood the reasoning, but she didn’t like it. It was weird not having Rowan next to her, and she had to pair up with other people during class. Even when they had been fighting, Lili had still worked with Rowan.

_At least it’s only for today_ , Lili thought to herself.

Unfortunately, that led to her being paired with Merula in Potions.

Besides the confusing moment with the Frog Choir, Lili had been happy with how little she had seen Merula this year. Naturally, her good luck had to come to an end.

“Well, if it isn’t the cursed Brooks.” Merula gave a sneer that Lili ignored. “You know, you must be the one who was cursed, not your brother, considering how many people you know seem to go missing or end up in the Hospital Wing.”

Lili whipped her head around and hissed at Merula. Not speaking and just hissing seemed to unbalance Merula, who almost fell off her stool. Lili smirked at that and went back to unpacking her potion ingredients.

“A-anyways, you freak, I’m going to be the one to find the Vaults. I’m working with someone, and we’re close to locating the Vault. Just saying.”

Lili rolled her eyes. Merula was bragging about almost locating a Vault while Lili had actually visited one. What an accomplishment to _almost_ do something. “Do you know where the Vault is?”

Merula’s eyes narrowed. “We’re close to finding it.”

Lili leaned forward, faux sympathy on her face. “Oooh, _close_ to finding it. Well, I’ve been in the Vault, but you’re _close_ to finding it.” She rolled her eyes once more and leaned away. “Bully for you, Merula.”

Seeing Merula be so unbalanced twice in a conversation felt nice. A small victory after all the recent let downs. “Well, you obviously haven’t broken the curse on the Vault, or the ice would be gone, so I’ll break it first. And you know why? Because I’m willing to do whatever I need to win.”

Lili wasn’t even looking at her anymore. “Sure, Merula. Whatever you say.”

Merula’s hands balled into fists. “Don’t ignore me!”

Lili ignored her.

Halfway through class, Professor Snape left to everyone’s confusion.

“I have received an urgent note that requires my attention. Don’t die while I’m gone.”

Lili just shrugged and continued with her potion, ignoring Merula’s pointed snickering. They didn’t have much more time left to work on it, and Lili didn’t have Rowan helping her. She was struggling a bit; Potions class has never been her strong suit on a good day.

“Brooks.” Lili looked up. She hadn’t realized Professor Snape had returned. “I have just visited your dormitory.”

She blinked in confusion. “You have?”

“You have, _sir_.” He corrected. “Yes. I was informed that you were stealing potions ingredients.”

“I was— _what_?”

“Stealing potions supplies. Don’t make me repeat myself again.”

Lili ignored how everyone was staring at their confrontation. “Why would I ever do that?”

“To help with your ridiculous quest for the Cursed Vaults? To be like your foolish and mad, rule breaking brother? I don’t lower myself to imagining what goes on in your tiny brain. Now, explain why there were potion ingredients in the drawer next to your bed?”

She couldn’t do anything but gape at Professor Snape. However she had expected class without Rowan to go, it wasn’t like this.

A sound came from behind Professor Snape, and Lili focused on Merula, who was smirking and looking very pleased with herself. Lili saw red.

“I didn’t do anything, but I bet Merula could tell you why there were potion ingredients!” Lili said hotly, glaring at the witch. “She’s framed me before, and I’m sure she would do it again.”

Professor Snape turned to Merula whose smirk quickly fell off her face. “Is this true, Ms. Snyde?”

Merula stared into Professor Snape’s eyes, her own wide in fake innocence, but she couldn’t seem to keep the smirk off her face. “I would never do something like that. I’d love to see Brooks in trouble and expelled, but for something dangerous she did.”

Professor Snape seemed to frown harder if that were possible. “Tell the truth, Ms. Snyde.”

Merula’s jaw fell open, as did everyone else’s in the class. The potions they had all been brewing were forgotten in favor of the drama. “Excuse me?”

“I would think a Slytherin would be a better liar, Ms. Snyde.”

Muffled giggles bubbled up from the Hufflepuff side of the room. They were extinguished as Professor Snape continued to talk. “You will spend the next two weeks cleaning and organizing my supply room as punishment for lying directly to my face.” He whirled around and addressed the classroom at large. “Stopper your potions and turn in what you have. Then _leave_.”

Lili was floating on cloud nine after that. Merula had gotten into trouble! _Merula_ had gotten _into trouble_! This was the best day ever!

She repeated the story to Rowan in her afternoon visit, with Ben in their shared Defense Against the Dark Arts class, and with Penny and Tonks in Herbology even though both had been present for the fight in Potions. At least they were amused by how euphoric Lili was over Merula getting detention.

“And I don’t have to serve it with her this time!” Lili said excitedly to Ben as they sat in one of the few dry spaces in the Clocktower Courtyard. It was cold out here and there were piles of melting snow, but Lili would take the cold Courtyard over the creepy Artefact Room any day.

“Or will you?”

Lili threw her head back and groaned. “Seriously, Merula?”

Ben had hopped off their ledge and was backing away. “M-Merula! What are you doing here?”

Merula was walking forward and Lili turned to face her. “I have business here with Brooks.” Merula looked incredibly angry. “You should’ve been the one in trouble with Snape, not me.”

“You’re the one who framed me. Don’t whine because your plan failed.” Lili pointed out, crossing her arms.

“You still should have gotten in trouble. Snape was right, you know. You’re like your brother. And you’re going to end up like him too.” She smirked and held her head up high. “I know what happened to him.”

“Lili—”

Lili ignored Ben and held her wand up. “What do you mean by that, Merula?”

“Exactly what I said, Brooks.”

“Tell me what happened to my brother!”

“Only if you tell me when you open a Cursed Vault.”

Lili was taken aback by Merula’s request. “What? No way.” She raised her wand once more. “Remember the Frog Choir? You owe me a favor. Tell me what you know.”

Merula went pale at the mention of the Frog Choir, but she recovered her haughty expression quickly. “Hmmm, I’ll decline. I owe you a favor, that’s true, but you’re not cashing it in now.”

“ _Tell me what you know_!”

“Then you tell me what you know about the Cursed Vault.” Merula had the nerve to look nonchalant. “From what I hear, your brother doesn’t have long.”

“ _Lili_ —”

She let out a primal scream. “ _Flipendo_!”

The anger accompanying her words sent Merula flying several meters back. Merula just barely missed hitting a column at an angle, and instead went tumbling over the stone wall between two columns. She landed with an undignified squeak.

Lili grabbed Ben’s hand and ran. She didn’t want to get in trouble for dueling Merula again.

“You’ll pay for that, Brooks! I’ll toss you around next!” Merula’s shriek of rage rang behind her.

“As if,” Lili muttered as she dragged Ben through Hogwarts’ corridors.

“Did you—did you need to do that?” Ben panted out as they slowed down near the Great Hall.

“I wouldn’t if she had just told me what she knew about my brother.” Lili hissed out.

Ben shrunk back at her tone, and Lili tried to reign in her anger. She hated Merula, not Ben.

“Maybe she was lying?” Ben offered. “She does that a lot. She probably doesn’t know anything about your brother.”

“But what if she does?” Lili’s shoulders slumped. The first half of the day had gone so well. “What if he doesn’t have much time left before something happens to him?”

Ben hesitantly put a hand on her shoulder. He didn’t look at her and his face was red as he mumbled. “If anyone would be able to find him in time, it’d be you. You’re smart and good at finding people and things. You can do it yourself, without anything Merula knows.”

Lili stared at him, then pulled him into a hug. Ben squeaked at that, the noise coming from above her head. She was almost half a year older than Ben, but he was already taller than her. If he was getting a growth spurt this early, he was probably going to end up being ridiculously tall. “Thanks, Ben. That was actually really comforting.”

Ben attempted to stutter something out, but Lili couldn’t make out any real words. She let go of him. He was probably embarrassed by them hugging in such a public place; he wasn’t as fond of physical affection as she and Rowan were.

“So, want to go stop by the Hospital Wing and see Rowan? I have homework I need to give her.”

-x-x-x-

The last few weeks of the term went by in a rush. Rowan was upset once more that Lili was staying over at Hogwarts by herself. It took a full week of Lili assuring Rowan that she would be fine to get her to stop threatening to stay over too. Unlike Lili, Rowan enjoyed spending time with her family and Lili didn’t want her to leave that for Lili’s sake.

Apart from the Owlery half exploding the day before everyone left, the holidays were just as boring as last year, and Lili didn’t even have detention to keep herself busy. When it wasn’t snowing, she went out to walk around Hogwarts grounds. When it was snowing, she went to the room in the dungeon Felix had taught her in and practiced her dueling spells, Trasnfigurations, and fencing. She needed to keep her skills sharp for when she next went into a Cursed Vault. Other times she practiced Self Warming Charms. Those took longer to practice as they were a little above her skill level, but they were incredibly useful for her walks.

Christmas came and went. Once the Owlery was repaired, she sent presents to her family, Rowan, Ben, and Penny and was excited to receive presents back from them too.

Still, she couldn’t wait for break to be over. She needed her friends to help brainstorm how exactly they would get past those ice beams. She had a lot of time to think, but to make good plans you needed more people brainstorming. People to come up with scenarios you wouldn’t think up yourself.

She couldn’t wait for them to be back.


	10. Bill Weasley

“So, I’ve been going over what we know about the Cursed Vault, and how we can get past the door, and I think that one of our biggest problems is that, well, we’re second years. We don’t know many spells, or any advanced magic.”

Their group of four was in the library, meeting for the first time in the new term. Rowan had reluctantly foregone their usual two hours of regular study in order to talk about plans for the Cursed Vault. Ben hadn’t been thrilled, but he didn’t leave the table as Lili, Rowan, and Penny discussed all the possibilities of what to do.

Despite saying how scared she had been of the Cursed Vaults Penny was almost as enthusiastic about coming up with plans as Lili. She really did seem to enjoy the adventure that came with looking for them. Rowan was also enthusiastic, but that was more because she loved making plans.

Lili nodded along at Rowan’s words. “I know Revelio, but that was just coincidence. We need to know more.”

Penny looked between them. “So, we’ll get someone to tutor us? How do we get that without telling them what it’s for?” She paused. “Though, considering you’re kinda famous for the Cursed Vaults, Lili, they would probably guess anyways.”

For some reason, Rowan began to blush. She pushed her glasses up her nose. “I wasn’t thinking of tutoring. I was thinking we could invite someone to join our group. An older student who knows more than us, but one who wouldn’t dismiss us just because we’re younger than them.”

Amusement bubbled up in Lili at how Rowan was acting. “I’m guessing you have someone in mind?”

Rowan was definitely blushing now. “I do.” She cleared her throat. “Bill Weasley.”

Penny began giggling as Ben raised an eyebrow.

“Who?” Lili asked as Ben said, “Charlie’s brother?” at the same time.

“Oh, Weasley. Yeah, that would be Charlie’s brother.” Lili was confused. “Why do you want to invite Charlie’s brother?”

Penny’s giggling increased. “Because he’s good looking! Rowan, I can’t believe you!”

Rowan shook her head, her hair flying about her face wildly. “No! It’s because he’s older and really smart but also very nice, and also, I believe he’s mentioned wanting to be a curse breaker and that’s essentially what we’re doing! I don’t fancy him or anything.”

“Well I do, if I’m being honest.” Penny’s giggling hadn’t stopped. “Nothing wrong with fancying Bill Weasley. I’m pretty sure half the girls at Hogwarts do.”

Lili’s amusement had left. “We’re not adding someone into the group just because he’s fanciable.” She frowned in Rowan’s direction.

“I said—”

“Shhh!”

They all jumped as Madam Pince glared at them before stalking away.

Rowan leaned forward, her voice quieter. “I’m being honest about not including him because he’s fanciable! I mean he is, but he really does want to be a curse breaker. Or so Charlie’s told me.”

“Charlie has told me the same.” Ben said thoughtfully. “And Bill is nice. He’s never been mean to me any time he’s caught me crying in the common room.”

Lili didn’t know what to say about that. She exchanged an awkward glance with Penny.

Penny cleared her throat. “Well the worst he can do is say no if we ask. He is two years ahead of us, so he probably knows some spells we don’t that could be useful.”

Rowan nodded. “That’s what I was getting at! Sure, there are other students who are older or more powerful than him, but he’s much nicer than any of them and won’t just be rude to us for talking to him!”

“Plus, you fancy him,” Penny added with a playful smirk.

“I doooon’t!” Rowan whisper-wailed.

“Well, where is he?” Lili said, wanting to get back on topic. She didn’t care for Rowan or Penny’s crush on some stranger. “Might as well not waste time and ask him now.”

“He’s in the library a lot.” Ben said. “Charlie says that if he ever needs to find Bill, he’s more likely to find him in the library than in the common room.”

Lili snorted. “No wonder you fancy him, Rowan.”

She ignored Rowan’s whispered denial, and turned to look around the library. Lili did vaguely remember seeing someone who looked like an older and more handsome Charlie when she had visited the Gryffindor table during the Start of Term Feast. It would be easy finding that distinctive hair in the library.

It didn’t take too long. A few shelves away, she spotted a tall red head holding a large stack of books and searching for more.

She looked at Ben, who seemed to have actually spoken to Bill before. “Is that him?”

At Ben’s nod, Lili got out of her seat.

“You’re just going to talk to him?” Rowan whispered in alarm.

Lili shrugged. “No time like the present.”

She heard the scraping of chairs against the floor as her friends hurriedly packed their things and tried to follow her.

“Excuse me?” Lili said once she was close enough to Bill Weasley. The red head jumped slightly, but far less than any of her friends would have. “You’re Bill Weasley, right?”

He raised one eyebrow. “Yes? You’re Lili Brooks, aren’t you? You’re in my brother’s year.”

She nodded. “Right. My friends said that you might be the best bet to helping us figure something out.” She glanced over her shoulder to see that her friends had converged at the end of the aisle they were in. Penny was giggling, Rowan had her face hidden behind a book, and Ben looked as if he wished he were anywhere but there. Lili could relate.

Bill looked at her then her friends, then her once more. “Alright…” he said slowly. “What sort of problem is this?”

Lili blinked. She hadn’t expected the older boy to actually agree. Maybe he really was as nice as her friends said. “Looking for the Cursed Vaults.” She said as bluntly as possible.

Someone hissed her name behind her, but she was focused on Bill. He looked almost flustered, but also intrigued. “The Cursed Vaults? The ones your brother was looking for? The year he got expelled was my first year at Hogwarts.”

Lili’s expression hardened. “Those Vaults.” She said shortly. She didn’t appreciate the topic change.

Bill seemed to realize that, and went back to the original topic. “Well, what do you need help with? I’ve studied curse breaking a bit, but I’ve never studied the Cursed Vaults.” He shrugged slightly. “No books in the library about it. I assumed they were all taken away after Jacob was expelled.”

So, he had tried to investigate the Cursed Vaults? Interesting. Maybe Bill Weasley was a good choice to help them after all.

“Rowan’s found a few, though not at Hogwarts. She can lend them to you if you want.” Rowan squeaked behind her. Lili ignored her. “We just need help with some of the practical parts of searching for the Vaults. We’re only second years. We don’t know that much useful magic.”

“I’m a fourth year,” Bill countered. “How much more can I know than you?”

“Two years’ worth.”

Bill grinned and let out a laugh. “Fair enough.” His expression grew more serious, though a smile was still in his eyes. “I have to ask though. Why do you want to find the Cursed Vaults? What would drive someone to put themselves in danger like that always interested me.”

“To find my brother. I think there’s clues that will help me look for him,” she answered promptly.

“Yeah, I’d definitely put myself in danger for my siblings.” Bill nodded slowly. “Fine. I’ll help you four.” A grin broke out on his face once more. “Plus, it’d be good to go on a curse breaking adventure as a student. Experience for when I actually apply for the job.”

Lili didn’t care about that, she just cared that Bill had agreed. “Good. Then we can meet whenever you’re free and go over whatever it is Rowan has on the agenda.”

“This time tomorrow will work.”

“Then we’ll do that. Meet us at that table over there.”

Bill smiled. “Right. Well, it’s nice meeting you Lili Brooks. Hope this partnership works out.”

-x-x-x-

Rowan clutched at Lili’s arm as they walked out of the library. Rowan’s allotted study time wasn’t over, but for once Rowan didn’t seem to care. Her face was still flushed from being within ten feet of Bill Weasley.

“I can’t believe you just went up to him!”

“Well, it worked.”

Penny chuckled. “It’s a very _you_ thing to do, Lili. No-nonsense when it comes to the Cursed Vaults.”

“Because it’s a no-nonsense subject,” she snapped. Penny’s smile slipped and the pressure Rowan was exerting on Lili’s arm lessened. “It’s not some story, or a way to get close to your crush, it’s dangerous. I would have thought you two would realize that.”

Penny looked away, and Rowan let go of her arm. “Sorry,” she mumbled.

Lili sighed and tried to calm down that sudden burst of anger. “It’s fine. I didn’t mean to snap at you two. I just want to get into that Vault.”

“Well,” Rowan gave a tentative smile, “I’m sure Bill will be able to help us.”

-x-x-x-

Rowan didn’t come to the meeting with Bill due to a sudden Quidditch practice. Penny didn’t come either, busy with one of the many clubs she was in. It was only Lili and Ben who greeted Bill as he walked over to their usual study table.

“No giggly girls?” He asked with a smile as he sat down.

Lili rolled her eyes. “Not today. They’re both busy with stuff.”

“Right.” Bill rubbed his hands together. “So, what are we doing?”

Lili explained to him everything they had learned about the Cursed Vaults so far, and even slid the few books Rowan could find on the Vaults over to him. Ben didn’t say anything, only stared down blankly at his open textbook.

Eventually, Bill sat back in his chair and whistled. A dim sound of _Shhh_ rang from around a bookshelf and Bill winced. “Well, I’m impressed. I wouldn’t have thought a group of twelve-year-old’s could have done so much.”

“We’ve done our best,” Lili said airily. She became serious once more. “What else do you think we need to know?”

“Hmm.” Bill leaned forward, head in one hand. “Well, you know Incendio, which is good. I can’t believe you went into that first room without knowing it.”

Lili crossed her arms. “We got out fine,” she mumbled.

Bill let out a small laugh. “Like I said, impressive. Do you know any heating charms?”

She nodded. “I practiced them this winter.”

“Any protection charms?”

Lili paused. “No,” she admitted. It hadn’t occurred to her to learn shielding charms. Those would have been useful in the Cursed Vault.

Bill smiled. “Well, then there’s one thing I can do to help. When are you going into the Vault next?”

“I don’t know.” Lili bit her lip; it was hard enough trying to find time to study the Vaults with her second year friends. It was going to be tough to work in Bill’s busier fourth year schedule. “Last time, we went during the day since we knew there wouldn’t be any professors in the corridor.”

Bill seemed to be thinking. “Why don’t we go now?”

“What?” Lili and Ben said at the same time, Ben finally looking up from his textbook.

Bill shrugged. “Why not? It’s early enough in the afternoon that I don’t think any professors will be there. They’ll either be with clubs or students. And if we do see someone, we can sneak away. We don’t have to go in.”

“I—well, I don’t know how Rowan or Penny will feel about being left behind.” Lili stuttered out, still surprised. She hadn’t expected Bill to be so eager to check out the Vault.

“We can always go in again.”

“Well—sure. I guess. Why not?”

“I’m not going with you guys,” Ben said, staring off into the distance.

Bill gave him a concerned glance. “Are you sure?”

“Very.” Ben went back to staring at his textbook. “I already got trapped in the cursed ice once. That was good enough for me.”

Lili felt a twinge of pity for Ben, but only a twinge. She stood up. “Then, let’s go, Bill. Ben will you watch my bag?”

“Sure,” Ben muttered. Lili shrugged. Even if he was sulking, he wouldn’t let her bag get stolen.

“Come on then, Bill. I’ll show you the Ice Vault.”

-x-x-x-

On their way to the east end of the fifth floor they did pass Professor Sprout. Lili would wager that she had been guarding or checking on the ice in that corridor. However, Bill wanted to see the Vault, so they snuck through back corridors up to the fifth floor.

The corridor filled with ice was empty. Lili bit her lip.

“I don’t know how much time we’ll have. If Professor Sprout just left, then it’s likely another professor will be coming in soon.”

Bill was staring wide eyed at the corridor. He whistled softly. “That is a lot of ice.”

He stepped forward and slid a meter. “Woah!”

Lili lurched forward. “Don’t touch the ice! It’ll attack you if you touch it!”

Bill yanked his hand back and tried to steady himself by waving his arms in the air. It took a second, but he managed to stay upright.

To Lili’s surprise, he laughed. “Right, so I’m guessing this isn’t the Ice Vault?” He turned to look at her.

Lili blinked. “No, it’s not.” She tentatively began to make her way across the icy floor. “Revelio.”

Bill gasped, but it sounded almost delighted to Lili’s ears. She turned to look at him. “Are you…enjoying this?”

A light flush came on his pale skin. “Maybe. It’s interesting! I finally get stop saying I want to be a curse breaker, and start actually being a curse breaker.”

Lili wasn’t amused. “Just don’t let it go to your head. We have to be on guard in the Vault.”

Bill nodded. “Don’t worry, I will be.” He said, then cast one of the Self-Warming Charms on himself and Lili. Even though she wasn’t wearing a cloak, Lili felt toasty warm. Going into the second floor icy corridor without knowing Incendio, going into the Ice Vault without first casting a Self-Warming Charm—Lili really needed to think before she leapt sometimes.

“Remember, the cold in there leaves you feeling exhausted, even if you don’t get hit by ice.” She side eyed him. “So, no sightseeing.”

“I won’t! I’ll be on my guard, like I said.” Bill took a step forward. “Stay behind me, I need to make sure you stay safe.”

Lili made an annoyed sound in the back of her throat. She shoved past Bill and strode onto the staircase. “I’m the one who’s been in here before! I can keep myself safe, thank you.”

They strode through the corridors of the Ice Vault quickly. It was as beautiful as it was before, and too Bill’s credit he never stopped to stare as Rowan and Penny had. He took everything in with a wide, open expression, but never paused in walking by Lili’s side.

“It really is cold in here,” Bill said, shivering slightly. “I’m feeling the cold even through the Warmth Charm. Woah. How’d you get through that wall of ice?”

He nodded towards what had previously been a pulsating vortex of coldness. Now, it was indeed a wall of ice.

Lili frowned. “It wasn’t there before.”

She peered at it more closely, despite the fact that getting with a few meters of it set her teeth chattering. It didn’t seem to stop at the end of the doorway, but continue on into the room after it. Another problem to get past. She clenched her teeth and stepped back.

“You said you know the Shield Charm?” She asked Bill. “Please use it.”

Bill nodded. “Protego.”

Lili raised her own wand. “Flipendo.”

She had used the Knockback Jinx on a hunch. It had turned the misty doorway into something she could pass through, so she thought it might still work on this specific set of cursed ice.

She was right. Both Lili and Bill flinched and ducked as a layer of the ice broke into a thousand small shards and blew across the room. Bill’s Shield Charm held, and nothing hit them, but the instinct to duck and cover still took over.

Lili rightened herself and walked forward, Bill trailing behind her. “Flipendo.”

Another layer burst into twinkling shards, beautiful in its danger.

Lili raised her wand once more. “Flipendo.”

The last layer exploded, and the path to the crystalline door was clear.

“Impressive,” Bill muttered to himself, and Lili wondered if he meant the door or her.

“Be careful of the door,” she warned him. “It shoots ice beams.”

Bill grinned. “Then we should attack it before it attacks us.”

“What?”

“Maybe we can melt it before it defaults to shooting. _Incendio_.”

Lili watched in horror as a jet of flames burst from the tip of Bill’s wand. The flames hit their mark, but didn’t seem to do any damage.

An ice beam came from the door. Lili dove in one direction and Bill stumbled in the other. The ice beam just barely missed him.

She turned to glare furiously at him. She hadn’t been keen on bringing in some stranger and this proved it. Bill was just another person looking for glory and fame by finding the Cursed Vaults. “Are you mad? Did you really think that would work, that it’s on some sort of timer? Run, you idiot!”

Lili stumbled up and began to run out of the icy room. She heard Bill following behind her, but much more slowly.

“Protego!”

Lili whipped around, just in time to see an ice beam be only partially repulsed by Bill’s Shield Charm. She wasn’t sure if her body was shaking because of the cold or her anger. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

He was still conscious. The Shield Charm had taken most of the beam’s hit, but there was a slightly blue tinge to Bill’s skin. He had stopped shivering completely and Lili was pretty sure that wasn’t a good thing.

“I thought that would work.”

“Well, it didn’t.”

She tried to lift him up, but an ice beam hitting right next to them sent her sprawling. She crawled back over to Bill. “Get up, already! I can’t lift you!”

Bill took a shuddering breath, but, with much help from Lili, he managed to get up. He was too tall for her to hold him long—Lili barely reached his shoulder—but he didn’t complain about having to use more energy than he obviously had.

Once again, the door stopped shooting the ice beams the second they were fully in the chamber with the frosted floor.

“Ventus.” Bill mumbled, as Lili hauled him down the stairs.

“What?”

“Shoots hot air. Warm.”

Lili eyed the icy corridor. “I’m dragging you across the ice first.” She announced. Bill didn’t put up much resistance to the idea. It was awkward, her dragging him by his arms while he slid across the ice, but he would’ve tripped immediately the second he stepped on the ice considering the state he was in.

She shoved the door to the corridor open and her heart froze. A professor was in the nearest staircase, coming up to check on the room.

Lili didn’t bother letting Bill get back up. A sudden surge of strength ran through her now that she was away from the ice, and she dragged Bill down the corridor and flung open the first door she saw. She ran back to the corridor and shut that door and relocked it with Colloportus, before running back to where Bill was. She shut that door just as she heard another one open.

They seemed to be in an old broom closet, and there wasn’t near enough room for both her and Bill, but Lili didn’t move. Bill made a shuddering noise and Lili put a hand over his mouth. They couldn’t let the professor find them.

There were no more noises after a while, and Lili felt safe enough to cast Ventus on Bill. The jinx seemed to do him some good. He was still half-conscious and slightly blue, but he was shivering once more.

She quietly opened the door and peered around. She didn’t see anyone. Lili turned to look at Bill. “Can you walk?”

He did not look like he could walk, but Bill grimly nodded. Lili helped him up, and they stumbled into the open corridor.

“A professor is patrolling the hallway, so we need to be quiet,” she whispered. “I think there’s another staircase over here.”

It was quiet as they slowly made their way down the staircase and through more corridors. Lili was keeping to areas she knew to be mostly abandoned and rarely walked. People would stop and ask questions if they saw the pair.

“I-I-I’m s-s-s-sorry, Lili-li.” Bill stuttered out. “I w-w-was too eager, li-like you s-s-said n-not to be. Th-this is all m-my f-f-f-fault.”

“I won’t argue against that,” Lili said curtly, though some of her anger melted. At least Bill realized that what he did was idiotic.

“S-s-s-sorry.” They had reached the ground floor, and Bill lurched away from her. Lili gazed at him with concern. She was irritated with him, but she didn’t want him to lose any appendages to frostbite. “I-I can go from here on my own. If M-M-Madam-m P-Pomfrey sees you with s-someone else frostbitten, you’ll p-probably get p-punished.”

Lili hesitated, then nodded. Bill looked ashamed of himself, and Lili bet he thought this would be the way to make it up to her. “Sure. Be safe and don’t lose any fingers.”

Bill smiled slightly. “W-won’t.”

She watched him stumble away before slinking back, defeated, to the Slytherin common room.


	11. Whose Fault?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, sometimes when you start a story you start it entirely because there’s one scene you want to get to, but it’d be hard to do the scene on it’s own because you need to build up to it for it to have any impact. The first half with the talk with Felix is That Scene for this whole series. I would honestly say getting the context for this scene is the whole reason why I started this dang rewrite. This was both very easy and very hard to write and I hope you all enjoy it!

Lili slumped in one of the chairs in the common room. She hadn’t moved from that chair for several hours. Most of the students had left to go to dinner, but Lili was stewing in her own pity and anger.

Rowan had come in two hours earlier, holding Lili’s stuff, talking about Ben and acting concerned, but Lili had waved her off. She wanted to be in a bad mood.

That was two times now that she hadn’t been able to get through that door. How would she be able to find her brother if she couldn’t even get through some stupid door? She wanted to cry, but she was in a public space and too exhausted. Maybe she should have gone to Madam Pomfrey. The chill in her bones had worn off, but she still felt so drained of energy. Even sitting by one of the fires in the Slytherin common room didn’t alleviate the weary ice that had settled in her bones.

Someone sat in the armchair across from her. Lili didn’t look at them. They coexisted in silence for almost ten minutes.

“You went back into a Cursed Vault, didn’t you?”

Lili scowled at Felix’s voice. She ignored him.

“Don’t ignore me.”

Lili turned to look at him. Felix was frowning at her.

“How did you know I went into a Cursed Vault?” She snapped, not wanting to deal with the Prefect.

“Because I’m not an idiot. Cursed ice everywhere, and you and a friend end up in the Hospital Wing with frostbite. Not a stretch to imagine you went looking for the Cursed Vault then. And now Bill Weasley is in the Hospital Wing with the same symptoms, while you’ve shivered by the fire for three hours now.”

She turned her back to him, angry that he was right.

It was another reason she wasn’t at dinner. People would have seen Bill go into the Hospital Wing, limping and covered in frost, and known he had done something with the Cursed Vault. And since Lili was the current Vault freak, her name would be going through everyone’s mouths at dinner. She didn’t want to deal with the whispers and stares. It always gave her such a headache.

Another pause came between them, lasting a minute or two.

“You don’t have to follow in your brother’s footsteps, you know.”

Lili hadn’t expected him to say that. She turned to face him. Felix was staring impassively out into the murky water of the Black Lake.

“What?”

“People talk about him and his search still, even after four years, and people compare you two all the time. It’s natural that you would feel pressured to live up to the comparisons. But you don’t have to.”

Lili couldn’t help but gape in astonishment at Felix. She had been expecting a lecture on what it meant to be a Slytherin, not something almost heartfelt.

“I’m—I’m not trying to live up to Jacob’s shadow.” She remembered the conversation she had with Jenny the day before Lili had gone to Hogwarts on this exact topic. She ignored that memory.

Felix stared at her and Lili shifted slightly in her armchair. He had an unnerving gaze.

“My brother and I had a similar age range between us as you and Jacob,” Felix said abruptly, making Lili blink. Felix had a brother? “A bit of a larger age gap, but not by much. I believe that Evan and Jacob were even in school together for a while. For a year, I think.”

Lili didn’t get where he was going with this. “And? What’s this have to do with anything?”

Felix went back to staring at the window. A mild tick of irritation welled in Lili; she had to look at Felix, but he could stare gloomily out the window all he wanted.

“My brother was also a Death Eater.”

Lili’s irritation fizzled as she stared wide eyed at Felix. People didn’t openly admit that they had Death Eater family members. It was something to be ignored, a stain on the family name. It was considered a shame—not that they were pureblood supremacists, but a shame that they were caught.

“Everyone always compared me to him, said I should aspire to be like Evan. He was everything you would want in a good pureblood family. Smart, charismatic, good looking—and a Death Eater. People never said the Death Eater part, but it was always implied, and it was always considered a good thing.

“And I did try to be like him. Why wouldn’t I? He was my older brother. He was a lot older than me, but he always played with me and was kind to me. I loved him, so of course I mimicked him and everything he said.”

Felix paused and glanced at her before looking back out the window. This was taking a lot out of him to say. He sighed. “I’m not proud of that. I was a kid though. I was just saying what I had been taught to say. What I had heard my brother say.” Felix clenched his fist. “And then my brother tried to fight a bloody Auror and got himself killed.”

Despite herself, Lili gasped quietly. She remembered another old memory, this time of a conversation she had had with Rowan. They had been discussing Merula and Felix having Death Eater relatives. She still agreed with what she felt then—Lili felt bad for Felix, but not for his brother.

“I was at Hogwarts by that point. It was near the beginning of my second year, actually. Only a few weeks before Harry Potter killed You-Know-Who. At that point in time, someone was being taken out of class nearly once a week to be told a family member was dead, so I knew what had happened immediately.

“I was angry. I was twelve and my beloved older brother was dead. I was mad at the Auror’s, blaming them for my brother’s death. I was mad at our family for encouraging him to join the Death Eaters. I wanted to believe he was still alive, and that I would be able to find him.” Felix finally turned to give her a piercing stare. “Does any of that sound familiar?”

Lili looked away. It did. She was angry. She was thirteen and her beloved older brother was missing. She was mad at Dumbledore, blaming him for Jacob’s disappearance. She was mad at her family for not staying together and not noticing his obsession with the Cursed Vaults. She wanted to believe he was still alive. She wanted to find him.

“I was angry for quite a while.” Felix’s voice was almost soft now. He seemed to know that his words had hit Lili in her heart. “And I kept acting like my brother, saying and doing awful things as if that would somehow bring him back. But I realized, it was my brother who got himself killed. He had stupid ideologies and went to stupid lengths to prove them right. No one was forcing him to do those things and the Auror’s were only protecting innocents from him. He wasn’t right, and it’s his fault he died. And if I kept acting like my brother I would probably die, and it’d be nothing but my fault too.

“Lili.” She glanced at Felix from the corners of her eyes. “Do you get what I’m trying to say here?”

She stared into the fire. “It’s all my brother’s fault.”

Felix sighed. “No, that wasn’t it. What I was trying to say with that embarrassingly personal speech, was that the road you’re walking on right now is a dangerous one. You’ve seen what it did to your brother. He was expelled from Hogwarts, declared missing, and—” Felix paused. “And many other horrible things happened to him or because of him, I’m sure. You need to realize that if you keep following in his footsteps there’s a possibility you’ll go missing too. Or even that something worse might happen. That anger and that drive—it’s not healthy.”

Tears pricked at Lili’s eyes. She didn’t think she could let go of her anger. It had been inside her for almost four years now, simmering, waiting for when it could be unleashed in all its ugliness. How else could she contain it besides looking for her brother? Jacob was the only one who could heal their family and make all these awful feelings go away. 

She heard Felix sigh once more and get out of his armchair. “Well, that’s what I wanted to say. I can only hope now that you listen to someone who, maybe didn’t go through the exact same thing, but understands it.”

Lili practically jumped as Felix patted her on the head. An emotional speech and then an affectionate head pat? He was full of surprises today.

Felix stopped at the entrance to the boy’s wing. “And by the way, I put a spell on the door so nobody could get in for thirty minutes so we could talk, and the time should be about up. So, if you’re going to cry, you should go to your room to do that because a crowd of irritated people is about to pour in.”

Lili waited until she heard his door close before dashing off to her own room. She had things to think about.

-x-x-x-

She didn’t say much over the next few days. It was only the first week back at school and she had already gotten someone put in the Hospital Wing. Bill’s plan had worked out, so officially she wasn’t attached to anything. But she heard the other student’s whispers and she caught her professor’s frowning at her.

That, plus Felix’s revealing speech had left her in a somber, contemplative mood. Rowan let her be, used to Lili getting lost in her thoughts and having a hard time finding her way out, and Rowan seemed to be getting her other friends off Lili’s back. Lili really loved Rowan sometimes.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Rowan had asked one night, when Vidalia was snoring and Desdemona was in the shower.

Lili had shaken her head then, still processing Felix’s words.

She still didn’t know what to think about what Felix had said. She understood the meaning when Felix had spelled it out, but she wasn’t sure how to react. Lili understood where he was coming from, and felt sympathy for him, but there was one major difference in their stories: Evan Rosier had been confirmed dead, while Jacob Brooks really was potentially alive.

Part of her wanted to follow Felix’s advice. Part of her wanted so badly to let go of all that anger and sadness and fear, let go of the search for the Cursed Vaults and be herself for the first time in years.

But she couldn’t. Jacob was out there. And maybe Jacob and Evan were similar, and it was entirely Jacob’s fault he was expelled. Maybe he was dead, and Lili was chasing after a false hope. But there was no way to know for sure unless she found him. The search for Jacob might eat her alive, but so would never knowing what happened.

Lili would take Felix’s words into consideration. She was not going to follow in her brother’s footsteps—but that didn’t mean she was going to stop looking for her brother. Lili just wasn’t going to make the same mistakes he did.

Chiefly, Lili had friends; friends willing to help her out at every turn. She wouldn’t alienate them. She’d share anything she managed to learn with them. And Lili would let them know that she appreciated them.

Somehow, Lili felt lighter. This probably wasn’t the response Felix had wanted to happen, but she was happy in the conclusion she had managed to come to. Her brother had failed because he had tried to do everything himself, but Lili didn’t have to. She didn’t have to keep everything bottled in, not when she had Rowan by her side at least.

The next morning, she chatted cheerfully with Rowan and made conversation with Ben and Penny and Tonks. Her friends seemed happy that Lili was back to normal, and Lili was happy that they cared about her.

Felix had wanted her to act like he had. He had recognized he was on a troublesome path and had gone in the opposite direction. But Lili couldn’t—not yet. She wasn’t strong enough to walk away from the Cursed Vaults. But she could set up safety nets and other protective measures to make sure that the road she was on wasn’t as troublesome as it was before.

-x-x-x-

One of the first things she did once she found her way out of her thoughts was visit Bill in the Hospital Wing. Now that a week or so had passed since their foray into the Cursed Vault, Lili was beginning to feel some regret over how she had acted towards Bill. Rowan had been hit full on by an ice beam, and had only stayed in the Hospital Wing for four or so days. Bill had gotten a glancing hit, and had been there around a week. Lili couldn’t help but feel that it was because she hadn’t taken him immediately to Madam Pomfrey the way she had with Rowan.

At the very least, when she visited him before breakfast it seemed like he was getting released. Lili opening the door to the Hospital Wing interrupted Madam Pomfrey in the middle of her long speech about taking potions and staying healthy.

Madam Pomfrey harrumphed. “Anyways, Mr. Weasley. I hope when the rest of your siblings come to Hogwarts they don’t get into such foolish trouble.”

Bill’s grin said that they would likely get into even worse trouble. “They’re perfect angels, I swear.”

She gave him a disbelieving glare, but didn’t call him out. “Now, Ms. Brooks. Are you here to see Mr. Weasley, or have you gotten into more trouble yourself?”

“Just here to see Bill.” Lili smiled weakly.

“If that’s the case,” Madam Pomfrey said briskly, “then you can have this conversation in the Great Hall. I have a case of severe sleepwalking, and I must determine if it means that—" She broke off suddenly, glancing quickly at Lili before turning around. “I have work to do, and need a quiet room in which to do. Now, kindly take leave.”

They obliged, and Lili stared over her shoulder before the door shut on her. She felt a grin come to her face. “So, sleepwalking is one of the curses unleashed by a Cursed Vault. Good to know.”

Bill laughed. “You caught that too?”

“Adults aren’t as subtle as they like to think.” Lili laughed alongside Bill, but her smile faded. “Are you okay? I won’t lie, I was kind of angry at you for attacking the door in the Vault and maybe didn’t move as quick as I could because of that, but now I just feel kind of guilty you were in there for a week.” She spoke quickly, and was looking down at her shoes by the end of it.

“Hey, it’s fine.” Bill’s voice was gentle, and Lili wasn’t sure if it lessened or increased her guilt. “It was a stupid move for me to do. You were right when you said you were the one who had been in there before and had more experience with the Vault. I’m the one who didn’t listen, and it’s my fault I got hurt. Don’t feel bad over my mistakes.”

Now both Felix and Bill were telling her the same thing. Maybe the world was trying to say something.

“Anyways, I’m glad you visited. I wanted to ask if you were going into the Vault again?”

Lili looked at him as if he were crazy. “Seriously?”

“Yes!” Bill laughed again, but this one was almost embarrassed. “Getting hurt, well, _hurt_ , but the rest of it? Amazing. I’ve never felt more alive or more motivated to do something. I’ve been planning all the things I would do differently if I got a second chance.”

_Well_ , Lili marveled, _Bill and Rowan share a love of libraries and learning, but they have very different reactions to the Cursed Vault._

“We haven’t decided to do anything yet. I’ve been—well.” She hesitated. Lili wasn’t angry at Bill anymore, but she didn’t trust him enough yet to talk about her past week. “I’ve had other things on my mind,” she said delicately, “but we’ll probably go over plans on the weekend. You can meet up with us on Sunday morning in the library?”

Bill nodded. “Honestly, I’m relieved. I thought you were going to bar me from ever looking at a Cursed Vault.”

Lili laughed; Bill seemed to make that happen easily. “I considered it,” she confessed.

“Bill!” Lili and Bill looked over. Charlie was jogging up to them, a huge grin on his face. “You’re out! I thought you said you’d wait for me to see you out of the Hospital Wing!”

“Well someone beat you to—oof!”

Charlie had rammed into him with a hug, making Bill take a step backwards from the force of it. A slight blush appeared on Bill’s face as the few people milling around outside the Great Hall snickered.

“Charlie, it’s not like you haven’t seen me the entire week. You visited last night.”

“Yeah, but you were still in the Hospital Wing then.” Charlie finally stepped back, still smiling widely. “You feeling okay?”

“Well, that hug hurt a bit and—”

“Oh, no, did it? I’m so sorr—”

“It didn’t Charlie!” Bill laughed and held up his hands. “I was joking.”

Charlie deflated slightly, but his smile came back, just more hesitant. “Alright then. You can have your bad jokes for today. You did just get released from the Hospital Wing.”

“ _Bad_ jokes?”

“I didn’t know you knew Bill, Lili,” Charlie said, turning to her and completely ignoring Bill. Lili kept a grin from appearing on her face. She had never seen Bill and Charlie together and it was both adorable and amusing.

“We’ve met.” Lili said vaguely. That seemed to satisfy Charlie.

A twinge of guilt came back to her. Did Charlie know that she was the reason Bill had been in the Hospital Wing? If it were anyone else, she would assume they believed the rumours, but this was Charlie and it was likely the rumours hadn’t even reached him. He didn’t seem to talk to many people besides his brother and Ben.

Lili waved as the two brothers left, chatting. She couldn’t remember ever talking with Jacob like that. Maybe if she had been able to talk to him as a thirteen-year-old their conversations would have been more playful and teasing.

She shook her head. Not the time to dwell on what-ifs.

Lili walked into the Great Hall, ready to wait for Rowan.


	12. The Ice Vault

Lili had told Bill to meet them that Sunday, but ever conflicting schedules kept their curse breaking gang apart until April. Most nights, it tended to be just Lili and Ben in the library, quietly discussing homework, but on the weekend before the Easter holiday, all five of them managed to find an hour or two to plan for the Cursed Vault.

However, they quickly became sidetracked.

“You’re saying we shouldn’t take Divination as an elective?” Rowan asked, dismayed. “Oh, but it sounds so interesting though!”

Bill nodded. “That’s how Professor Trelawney lures you in. Makes the class sound all fun and interesting and then you walk into class and you find out she’s a total fake.”

Penny grinned slyly. “It’s still the easiest class at Hogwarts, isn’t it though?”

“Penny!” Rowan gasped. “I didn’t think you were the type to pick easy classes!”

Penny laughed while Ben looked nervously between them. “Sure, it’s easy but it sounds terrifying. Who wants to learn about the future? The present is scary enough.”

“You’re the only person who thinks like that, Ben.”

“I still don’t know what to take though!” Ben pulled at his hair, and the only reason Lili didn’t snap at them to focus on the Vaults was because he looked so stressed. It was taking all her willpower, but she was holding out. “Magical creatures? Terrifying. Seeing the future? Also, terrifying. I’d take Muggle Studies but that seems too easy….”

“Arithmancy and Ancient Runes aren’t terrifying.” Rowan piped up. “It’s basically like learning Latin and maths at a Muggle school, except it’s runic languages and magical maths.”

Ben looked somewhat relieved. “Well, Latin and maths aren’t too terrifying…”

“It’s also what me and Lili are taking.”

Ben looked significantly more interested in the subjects. “Well, I guess those two classes don’t sounds so bad…”

“I’m taking those too,” Penny added in. “They’re the hardest subjects, but the most fascinating I think.”

Bill nodded. “I’d say that too. Ancient Runes is definitely my favorite class.”

“But what I am now wondering, Rowan, is why you’re asking Bill about electives if you’ve already picked two?” Penny asked, propping her face on her hand to stare at Rowan.

Lili sighed as Rowan began to talk. Her patience was wearing thin now that they were on _this_ topic again.

“It’s just that two classes are the required minimum and I don’t want to take _only_ two. I was considering Muggle Studies because it sounds like a fascinating subject, but I also want to take my classes with Lili so we don’t have potentially conflicting schedules but—”

“I’m not taking Muggle Studies!” Lili finally chimed in. “If I want to study Muggles, I’ll write a letter to my neighbor asking what his favorite program on the telly is.”

Rowan sighed. “But that. So, I’m trying to pick between Divination and Care of Magical Creatures.”

Bill hid a snicker behind his fist. “Well, if it’s between those two, I say take Care of Magical Creatures. Professor Trelawney and Professor Kettleburn are both…unique individuals, but Professor Kettleburn can actually teach, and knows his stuff.”

Rowan looked at Lili. “Does that sound good?”

Lili sighed. “Sure, whatever. As long as we can talk about Cursed Vaults now. I’ve been waiting for _months_ for all of us to get together.”

That sobered them up quickly.

“I’ve heard that the Ravenclaw Quidditch team was trapped in their dressing room for almost a whole day because of cursed ice that’s spread from the castle.” Penny said in a hushed voice.

Ben looked more alarmed than usual. “It’s spread that far?”

Penny nodded. “I know April isn’t exactly the warmest month, but for ice to last that long outside? We have to stop it spreading soon.”

Bill leaned forward. “I’ve heard that Professor Dumbledore is looking for someone to help with Cursed Vault problem. That he’s going to be gone the whole Easter holiday to see if he can find and convince them to come to Hogwarts.”

The other four gaped at him.

“Seriously?” Lili asked, completely shocked. She didn’t think that the headmaster would leave Hogwarts alone. Bill nodded. “How’d you find that out?”

“I was talking to Hagrid with Charlie and he let it slip.” Bill chuckled. “If you ever want to find out something the professors don’t want you to know, just talk to Hagrid. He lets a lot of things slip.”

Rowan gasped. “Remember the night Ben was found, Lili? Professor Snape had mentioned that Dumbledore was gone then too. Maybe he had been looking for this person even then.”

Lili nodded as that memory filtered back into her brain. Professor Snape had said that. “Well, that’s good to hear. Rowan and I were already staying over for the holiday. We can go then so Dumbledore can’t yell at us.”

Bill raised an eyebrow. “Is that likely to happen?”

“He did call Lili up to his office last year after we went into the ice corridor.” Rowan said.

“Right, then the Easter hols sounds like a good choice. Are you two staying over?”

Penny nodded. “I’m doing a Potions project for Professor Snape that couldn’t be left alone for a week.”

“I-I actually am too.” Ben added in nervously. “I get so nervous during class that I don’t do well, and a few professors promised to let me do some make ups over the break.”

Lili winced at that. She wouldn’t want to be Ben.

She finally sat up. “How’s Friday afternoon sound? Anyone have anything to do then?” There was a round of _no_ ’s. “Good.” She paused. “Anyone not want to go into the Vault?”

“I’m going.” Bill said immediately.

“Me too!” Penny chimed in.

Lili had expected those two to want to go with her; it was Rowan and Ben she was unsure about. Rowan had expressed a desire to do only research before and Ben had never gone on any of their adventures.

Rowan was biting her lip. She glanced down and then at Bill. Lili resisted rolling her eyes. She really hoped Rowan wasn’t considering going into the Vaults as a way to look good in front of her crush.

“I’ll go with.” Everyone turned to look at Ben in shock.

“Really? You?” Lili asked.

Ben looked hurt. “You don’t have to sound so surprised.”

“It’s just that you’ve never expressed interest in the Cursed Vaults before,” Penny said, butting in. “In fact, you’ve been pretty vocal about not wanting to go into the Ice Vault specifically.”

To Lili’s continuing shock, Ben squared his shoulders and looked directly at Penny. “Well, I changed my mind.”

Bill laughed. “Now, that’s some Gryffindor spirit! Are you coming, Rowan?”

Rowan _eeped_ and fixed her glasses. “I—oh, I guess if even Ben’s going, then I should go too.”

Lili nodded briskly while inwardly rolling her eyes at her best friend. “Right then. Grab your warmest clothing, and we’ll meet by the staircase nearest to the Cursed Vault on Friday.”

-x-x-x-

Lili stood at the base of the stairwell, wearing two cloaks, wool mittens under dragonhide gloves, and about five pairs of socks. Rowan, Ben, and Bill were all similarly dressed and waiting for Penny to arrive.

“So, the Shield Charm resisted some of the ice beam but not all of it?” Rowan was asking.

Bill nodded. “I’ve spent the past few months studying up on different versions of the Shield Charm, and I’m hoping at least one of the charms I practiced will be more effective.”

Lili leaned against the wall, only just taking in Rowan and Bill’s idle chatter. This had to be it. This was her third time going into the Cursed Vault. If she couldn’t break into the stupid thing in three tries, then she was a failure.

“Uh, are you okay, Lili?”

Ben’s voice made her look up. “Huh?”

He waved a hand around. “You just looked sort of, um, spaced out. Are you okay?”

Lili nodded. “I’m good. Just thinking.”

Ben sighed. “Yeah. I’ve been doing that a lot too. I mean, I’m always overthinking everything, but I’ve been especially overthinking this.”

“Then why’d you agree to come?” Lili asked, genuinely curious. Ben had never had an interest in the Cursed Vaults before. For him to agree so suddenly felt strange.

He stared at the ground. _In embarrassment_? Lili thought, puzzled, as Ben definitely seemed embarrassed for some reason. “It’s just—you’ve always been so nice to me, and have always helped me with my problems. I decided that I wanted to help you for once.”

Lili stared at Ben. She hadn’t expected that. “Oh. You don’t have to do that.”

Ben still didn’t look up. “But I want to,” he said softly.

“Hey guys!” Penny came bounding down the hallway, and Lili turned from Ben to Penny, glad she had an excuse to not reply to Ben. She didn’t know what to say, and ending the conversation there was better than putting her foot in her mouth.

Penny was dressed warmly like the rest of them, and had even added on a cool looking fur hat.

Rowan laughed. “Where’d you get that hat, Penny?”

Penny grinned. “My mom got it when we were living in Scotland and gave it to me last year. Isn’t it neat?”

“Very neat,” Lili said. “Now, let’s do the Self-Warming Charms and go into the Vault.”

That silenced all the idle chatter. Lili turned and headed up the stairs, muttering the incantation to the Self-Warming Charm as she did so. She heard the others following in her lead.

There were no professors in the east wing of the fifth floor. Lili had made sure to check for that before everyone else had arrived. Either some professor wasn’t taking his job seriously, the teaching staff were more concerned with the cursed ice that had spread from the Vault, or they had stopped patrolling entirely. Lili wasn’t sure which, but she didn’t much care. It made getting in easier and that was all that mattered.

“Alohomora.”

The lock clicked, and Lili opened the door. She bit her lip.

There had always been blocks of ice throughout the room. But over the past few months, the room had been overtaken by the ice. It looked less like a room filled with ice and more like an iceberg had decided to build a room around itself.

She looked over her shoulder. “Remember not to touch the ice. Be careful.”

Lili stepped onto the ice, cautious but confident. She slid slowly to where the hidden staircase was and raised her wand. “Revelio.”

She stepped through onto the much less slippery stairs and clutched her cloaks tighter around herself. She had only been in the room for a minute and the chill was starting to seep in.

“ _Are those my schoolbooks?”_

Lili looked over at Ben. He was staring at what used to be a bench covered in school textbooks. Oh yeah. She had forgotten about that.

Ben looked almost peeved. “I had to buy all new books.”

Penny and Rowan laughed at that.

Bill clapped him on the shoulder. “The years already almost over. Not much point in trying to get them now, mate.”

“Let’s go.” Lili said, impatience in her voice. She didn’t have time for talking about schoolbooks. “The cold affects you more and more the longer you stand around, remember.”

Her friends hurried up the staircase, following her.

To Lili’s surprise, there wasn’t anything blocking the entrance way from the room with the marble tile to the room made of ice. Lili grit her teeth. It felt like the Vault was mocking her. _Oh, you need three tries to try to get to me? Guess, I’ll make the third try easier._

She turned to her friends, who stumbled to a stop.

“The ice beams stop whenever we enter this room, so I assume they won’t start as long as we plan in here. I was thinking about how we broke the ice over the door back in the first icy corridor, in first year. It only broke when Rowan, Penny, Merula, and I all cast the Knockback Jinx at the ice. So, maybe it’s something like that which will break whatever is keeping the door closed and then we can go to whatever is beyond it.”

Her friends nodded, all of them finally acting seriously.

“Ben and Rowan, you’ll cast Flipendo.” The less scary spell for her more cautious friends. “Penny, Bill, and I will cast Incendio. We’ll do it on my count.” Lili whirled around, her cloaks whipping about dramatically. “We can do this.”

She marched into the room of ice, confident her friends would follow.

“Wands out…” Lili started. “Now! Incendio!”

“Incendio!”

“Flipendo!”

To Lili’s delight cracks began to form in the crystalline structure. The delicate ice that resembled a snowflake began to break in to large, separate parts. Lili allowed herself a smile. “Again!”

Before they could cast any spells, the door shot out an ice beam. The five of them scattered.

“Protego Duo!” Bill called out.

The door shot out another beam, but it was caught by Bill’s Shield Charm. The force of the beam seemed to disintegrate the shield, but it didn’t hit any of them.

“Again!” Lili called out, not even bothering to get up. She pointed her wand at the door. “Incendio!”

“Flipendo!”

“Incendio!”

That did it. That actually did it.

There was a rumbling as the crystalline structure over the door slowly, so slowly, broke into seven pieces and slid down to the floor.

Lili stared at the door as she picked herself up off the floor.

“I can’t believe….” Rowan began, but stopped.

Something was making noise behind the door.

Rowan took a step back.

Bill cleared his throat. “It maybe just occurred to me that, maybe, the door was keeping something in and not keeping us out.”

Lili held her wand out, undeterred. “Then be ready.”

The door began to screech open and despite herself, Lili hands went to her ears. The sound of ice grinding against ice was a horrible sound. A terrible screech that reverberated through her bones.

She had hunched over and closed her eyes to try to block out the noise. Lili opened one eye in time to see a figure walk out the door. Her breath caught.

_The Ice Knight stands guard past the Vanished Stairs_.

They were now past the Vanished Stairs and here was the Ice Knight. Lili straightened, wand out once more.

The Knight stopped at the threshold of the doors. It was tall, every inch of it made from ice. It even had a sword larger than Lili made of ice. It lifted said sword up and slammed it into the ground.

Lili didn’t know if it was the force of the sound of the sword hitting the ice, or if it unleashed some sort of icy wind, but she and her friends were all thrown back. Cries echoed throughout the room as bodies hit the hard, icy floor.

The Knight brought his sword up into ready position, and didn’t move.

Lili stood up once more, her own wand at ready. “Incendio!”

Her flames hit the Knight. It didn’t move.

“Incendio!” She cried once more, letting the flames last longer and putting all her passion into the spell.

The Knight stepped backwards.

The moment of triumph didn’t last long. Before she could cast the Fire-Making Spell once more, the Knight moved back into his old position. Then stepped forward.

Lili stepped backwards.

The knight made a slashing motion, but his sword didn’t hit anything. It instead sent another blast of freezing wind that knocked her down on the hard ground once more.

Lili pushed herself up into a sitting position, and was surprised to see blood on the icy floor. When did that get there? Was the exposed skin on her face cut? The chilled air in the Vault had numbed it, so she couldn’t tell.

She looked up from the floor, and Rowan caught her eye. Her friend’s legs were caught in ice.

Lili’s head whipped around wildly. All of her friends were caught in ice. Penny tried to use the Knockback Jinx on the cursed ice trapping her, but it didn’t work.

“Use—” Lili cleared her throat. Her lips were cracked and bleeding. She could vaguely taste something coppery in her mouth. “Use Incendio on the ice! But be careful!” She lurched upwards. Her body was aching from being thrown onto hard ice so many times. “I’ll finish the knight.”

Rowan caught her eye. Lili nodded comfortingly, but Rowan didn’t look comforted. “Be careful, Lili.”

Lili nodded again. She looked at the Ice Knight. “ _Incendio Duo_.”

She had no idea if that was a real spell. She just knew that Duo tended to make a basic spell stronger. Green flames flew from the tip of her wand however, and Lili smiled tightly. The Ice Knight was starting to melt at the edges.

It drew its sword up into the air once more.

Before it could thrust its sword into the ground again, Lili threw her whole body into a spell. “ _Expelliarmus_!”

The Knight’s sword flew from its gauntlets and clattered to the ground in front of Lili.

She hesitantly reached down. No frost began to form on gloves just from being near the ice sword, so she grabbed it and almost fell over.

The sword was much heavier than a fencing rapier. Lili hadn’t planned on that.

Lili _had_ planned to have the sword in one hand and her wand in the other, both ready to attack, but that didn’t seem feasible now that she was holding the sword. _Wand or sword,_ was all she had time to think before the Ice Knight began marching towards her.

She hefted the sword up and lurched forward.

The Ice Knight was sturdy, but slow. It didn’t have time to block or turn away before Lili lunged and stabbed the sword right into its breast plate. The ice sword was heavier than what she was used to, but instinct helped her keep the sword up and hit its mark.

A repeat of that loud screeching noise made Lili close her eyes in pain, but she kept shoving.

She thumped against something hard. Lili opened her eyes to find she was leaning against the Ice Knights chest.

It took her a second to fully realize the position she was in.

With a shriek, she jerked away from the sword and staggered backwards.

The Ice Knight didn’t move.

Lili had managed to shove the sword out the back of the Knights breast plate. Either this killed it, or deactivated it, or something, as Lili was less than a meter away from the Knight and it didn’t move towards her, or try to take the sword out of its chest.

She took in a deep breath. The adrenaline was beginning to leave, and she was pretty sure her Self-Warming Charm had worn off. Or perhaps the unnatural cold was beginning to get at her.

“Lili! You did it!”

Her friends. Lili had forgotten about them for a second. She whirled around.

Ben and Bill had both gotten free from the ice that had captured them and were freeing Penny and Rowan.

Lili let out a mildly hysterical giggle. Bill was the one freeing Rowan and her best friend practically had hearts dancing around her head, her expression was so mushy.

Bill looked up at that. “You okay, Lili?”

She covered her mouth, though the giggles didn’t stop. She nodded instead.

Lili stood by as Bill and Ben finished up their work. She was too tired to do much else.

“Lili!”

She startled at Penny’s voice. When had she gotten free? And gotten right in front of Lili’s face?

Penny pulled out a handkerchief from somewhere within her cloak and began wiping at Lili’s face. “How did your face get like this? Well, likely from the ice that went everywhere when those ice beams hit, but still. It would’ve been smarter for all of us to wear face masks or something.”

Lili didn’t say anything. Penny was too close, and her wiping Lili’s face was bringing some heat back into it. She hoped she wasn’t visibly blushing. It was bad enough to have Rowan acting all soppy and weird.

Penny finally took a step back, and Lili already missed being that close.

She shook her head. The chill of the Ice Vault was getting to her, dulling her senses and making her all silly.

Lili took a deep breath and looked at her four friends. She needed to ignore the hysteria and exhaustion building in her and focus. “Ready to see what’s inside a Cursed Vault then?”


	13. New Clues

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter of this fic! Thank you to everyone who’s read this <3 
> 
> I have about 8 chapters written out of 13 or 14 total chapters for the year 3 fic, and I’m going to wait until it’s finished to start posting it. That means there will probably be a bit of a gap between this fic and the next one. During that time, I plan to post a bunch of unpublished fics I have lying around my computer (both hphm and other fandoms), and finish some other ones alongside working on year 3. 
> 
> So please enjoy this last chapter and also enjoy the Indiana Jones reference in it lol

The room beyond the large, icy door was not what Lili expected. She thought there would be more ice, but the room was completely devoid of it.

A green, eerie light lit the room and Lili was uncomfortably reminded of the Slytherin dorms. The décor was different from Slytherin, however. Slytherin rooms favored green with paler, neutral tones, while this room strangely paired the eerie green light with red and gold.

This room also reminded her of the first chamber of the Vault. Both had a patterned marble floor, but Lili couldn’t make out the color of this floor besides red. The light flickered too much and was too odd of a shade. It made the floor seem like it was constantly shifting between colors. Stone knights lined the walls. Lili eyed them nervously, but they didn’t move.

In the middle of the room was a large beam of golden light. No—it was a column from which a golden light was radiating from. It was hard to look at, and Lili instantly knew that whatever the “prize” of the Vault was, it was in that column.

Her friends broke her trance.

“It’s beautiful.” Penny breathed, staring around with wide eyes. “Incredibly creepy, but beautiful.”

“Amazing,” Ben agreed, his usual look of terror replaced with one of awe.

“What’s with that column?” Bill asked, stepping forward to Lili’s side.

“That’s what I was wondering,” Lili murmured.

Rowan adjusted her glasses. “Do we need a spell to open it? Alohomora, maybe?”

“No,” Lili said. “I don’t think so.”

Lili walked forward and reached her arm out. The second she touched the column the light inside grew brighter, then dimmed, and the noise of gears clicking into place echoed throughout the room. She could now see that the column was made of delicate metal panels which held some sort of golden stained glass. The panels began to turn and branch out, like a flower opening for the sun.

“Woah!”

“Amazing!”

“How did it—”

Lili didn’t move even though her heart was beating fiercely at the thought of getting hit by one of the panels, but, somehow, she knew she was safe. The panels all stopped before they hit her, or any of her friends.

Golden light flowed from the base of the column to the ceiling and floating in the light were two items. Lili shielded her eyes to see them better.

“A book and a broken wand?” Bill almost sounded disappointed. “Not what I was expecting.”

“Maybe they’re clues,” came Rowan’s voice. “In the icy corridor, we saw that message scraped onto the wall. Maybe this is like that.”

Lili reached forward once more, but before she could touch the light, she crumpled to the ground, her head feeling like it was on fire.

_Find the other four Vaults, Lili…Find my room…_

_Room_? Was all she could think. Her brain hurt too much to form any more syllables.

_You can’t let_ her _get there first! Hurry!_

“Lili? Lili, can you hear me? Please, Lili say something….”

“Jacob?” Lili muttered as the pressure in her head lessened.

“Jacob?” Rowan. That was Rowan’s voice.

“Another one?” She rolled her head back to stare at her friend and immediately regretted it. She closed her eyes and hissed in pain.

“Another one,” Rowan confirmed. “Why did you say Jacob?”

“It was…Jacob’s voice. He’s been the one giving me these visions.”

“ _Jacob_ has been?”

Lili gave the barest of nods; it was all she could do. She realized then that she was crying. Feeling was slowly coming back into her face and each tear felt like a thorn being dragged down her face.

With Rowan and Bill’s help, Lili got back to her feet. Bill, she realized, was very pale. Lili could see every freckle in his face, which was an incredible feat considering the lighting in the room.

“What,” Bill flatly asked, “was that?”

Lili distantly heard Rowan and Penny explain what Lili’s visions were like as Lili tried to pull herself together.

“—and you think Jacob is sending them?”

Lili shakily nodded. “It was his voice. I know it. The previous times, the voices felt…distorted, but this one was clear as day. It was Jacob.”

“What’d he say?” Penny asked. “When you were on the ground, you mentioned a room…?”

“Did I say that out loud? Huh.” Lili hadn’t realized that. “He wanted me to find his room and the other four Vaults, and mentioned not letting _her_ find it first. And to hurry.”

“Who’s her?” Ben asked, his nervous demeanor back again.

Lili shook her head. “I have no idea.”

Merula? But Jacob wouldn’t know about Merula. It was likely some other _her_ , some other threat.

The book and wand were still floating in the light. Lili grabbed them. Holding the items to her chest, she had to say she was disappointed. She thought the light would be warm to the touch, but it felt like the rest of the air in the room.

Lili sighed. Were these items really worth all that trouble? She glanced down and stilled.

“Lili?”

“Is it another vision?” Ben sounded quite worried.

“This is Jacob’s wand.” Lili whispered.

Four _what_ ’s echoed through the room.

“Jacob’s wand?” Rowan grabbed onto Lili’s arm. “Are you serious?”

Lili nodded, dazed. “I know it is. I was there when he got it. It was one of the few times Mum ever let me visit Diagon Alley when the war was still on.”

Bill whistled. “Well, they do snap your wand when you get expelled. How’d it end up here though?”

“I’ve heard Hagrid was expelled and still has his broken wand,” Penny said. “Maybe they gave it to Jacob to keep and he put it in here later.”

“How’d he get back into Hogwarts then?” Ben looked alarmed.

Penny shrugged. “It was only an idea.”

Lili flipped through the book. Mainly scribbles. Some snatched pieces of writing. It seemed like this had been used as an idea journal, rather than as a diary. She put both items into a pocket in her inner cloak.

“We should leave now.”

Ben squeaked. “Is the room going to cave in now that you’ve taken the treasure? Is there going to be a giant boulder?”

Penny laughed at that and Lili almost did too, it was so out of left field. “Indiana Jones? Really, Ben?”

“What? It’s magic, it could happen.”

“Are you confused?” Bill asked Rowan.

“A bit,” she admitted.

“I didn’t mean anything…Indiana Jones-y. I just meant that if we broke the curse, then how’s that affecting the cursed ice throughout Hogwarts? I’m sure some professor knows by now that the curse has been broken, and we should probably leave before we get caught.”

Everyone agreed that not getting caught red handed was a good idea. They hurried out of the inner room, through the ice room and into the first room. Lili contemplated taking the Ice Knight’s sword with her, but she didn’t have enough time to figure out the logistics of dragging a giant, heavy sword made of ice around. It would have been an awesome souvenir though.

Ben paused when they reached the threshold between the first room and the ice room.

“Ben?”

“Give me a second. Oblittero.”

He waved his wand, and the other four watched in awe as all the footsteps they made disappeared, the ice damaged by beams repaired itself, the Ice Knight surged backwards into the last room, and the large ice doors closed shut.

“That,” Bill said, eyes wide, “was impressive. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an Obliteration Charm that strong.”

Ben blushed. He mumbled something that sounded like _practice_.

_Practice hiding his footsteps?_ Lili filed that piece of knowledge away for when they weren’t potentially about to get in trouble. She hadn’t forgotten that Ben hadn’t been wholly truthful about not remembering anything from when he had been missing.

Ben continued to cover their tracks as they left the first room and hurried down the stairs.

Lili’s predication was proved right, at least in the corridor immediately outside the Cursed Vault. The area was still filled with ice, but already it had shrunken considerably in size. It wasn’t hard getting to the door while avoiding touching any blocks of ice.

“Colloportus,” Ben said as he filed out last. He paused. “At least, I hope that’s the charm they used before.”

“It’s good enough, Ben.” Penny smiled. “You did a great job covering our tracks.”

“And we should leave, _now_ , before we get busted despite his good job.”

Penny blushed. “Of course. I’ll see you all tomorrow. Regular meeting spot, regular time.”

They all murmured consent to that and went their separate ways. Ben and Bill to Gryffindor Tower, Penny to wherever the Hufflepuff dorms were, and Lili and Rowan down to the dungeons. The two girls took their extra clothing off as they walked; wearing two cloaks, gloves, and a scarf inside was suspicious.

Hogwarts was quiet. Not as many people went home for the Easter holidays as the Christmas holidays, but the castle was still emptier than usual. No one saw the girls as they rushed to their dorm room.

-x-x-x-

On Saturday, the five of them celebrated the fact that the cursed ice was receding and that they hadn’t been caught or accused of going into the Cursed Vault.

That feeling of triumph was destroyed on Sunday.

Lili had been paging through the journal they had found, trying to make sense of it when someone knocked on the door. She shoved the journal under her pillow, which was where she was also keeping Jacob’s broken wand.

She opened the door to see Evelyn Perez, one of the girls in her year who slept in the other dorm.

“Professor Talcifer is in the common room waiting for you.” She glanced at Rowan who was getting off her bed. “Just Lilith,” Evelyn said. “She said that specifically.” She sent Rowan an apologetic glance, before dashing across the corridor into her own room.

Lili and Rowan exchanged looks. Rowan bit her lip. “I guess you shouldn’t keep Professor Talcifer waiting.”

“I shouldn’t,” Lili said reluctantly. “I’ll tell you what happened when I get back.”

Rowan smiled. “Of course, you will.”

Lili smiled in return and stepped into the corridor, shutting the door softly behind her.

Professor Talcifer was not smiling. She never seemed to be smiling, but she didn’t seem happy this time.

Lili gave her a hesitant smile. “Professor Talcifer? I was told you wanted to see me.”

“We professors are not idiots, Lilith Brooks. We have seen the cursed ice before, and we know what it means when it suddenly disappears. It only appears when a Cursed Vault is tampered with, and only disappears when someone manages to open the final door in the Cursed Vault. I will let you guess who was tampering with and closing it last time we had the cursed ice. And, while we don’t know who tampered with the Vault this time, we can guess who was responsible for closing the Vault this time.”

Professor Talcifer didn’t mince her words. Lili’s shoulder’s slumped further down at each sentence. She considered playing innocent, but she didn’t think that would work. Lili settled on staying silent.

“I am disappointed in you, Lilith. I had to deal with your brother ruining his—and Slytherin’s—reputation. I do not want to deal with that a second time.”

Lili looked down at the floor.

“Now, you will follow me. Professor Dumbledore wishes to speak with you.”

-x-x-x-

“Ice Mice.”

Lili stood silently behind Professor Talcifer, still staring at the ground. Was going into a Cursed Vault an expellable offense?

“Move along, Lilith. We don’t want to keep the Headmaster waiting.”

She obligingly followed her Head of House up the stairs.

Dumbledore was feeding Fawkes. She still couldn’t believe he had a pet phoenix. She tried to not get as distracted by Fawkes the phoenix as she did the last time she had been in Dumbledore’s office.

“Ah, Candora, Lili. Good to see both of you.”

“Headmaster.” Professor Talcifer respectfully bowed her head. Lili awkwardly waved, then immediately put her hand down. She probably wasn’t meant to do that.

Dumbedore smiled. “I’d like to speak with Lili alone, Candora, if you wouldn’t mind.”

She bowed her head again. “It is no problem, Albus.”

Lili watched Professor Talcifer walk back down the stairs, her heart falling as the professor disappeared. She would never expect the professor to show favoritism towards her—Lili expected the opposite in fact—but Professor Tacifer being in the room made the whole thing seem less terrifying.

“So, Lili. How has your break from school been?”

She stared at the old Headmaster who was still feeding his bird. “Er—alright?”

He nodded, as if she had made an award winning speech. “My holiday has been rather exciting, I must say! I was in Brazil for a few days—quite a fun place, Brazil. But my time there was cut short by a letter from Professor McGonagall saying that the cursed ice around Hogwarts had receded. That’s something I, as Headmaster, need to deal with, so I had to, unfortunately, cut my trip to Brazil short.”

Dumbledore finally turned to look at her. “Would you happen to know how the cursed ice disappeared, Lili?”

She stared at her feet and didn’t say anything.

“Yes, silence is usually how people react when in my office. That, or very loud anger! Quite baffling, the difference!”

“Am I getting expelled?” Lili decided to be blunt. That’s always the best choice—if you don’t mince your words, no one can be confused by them.

He raised one eyebrow. “You thought you would be expelled last time you visited my office too. What about my office says expulsion to you?”

“I mean, only people in trouble get sent to see you….”

“Really now? Do you think you’re in trouble?”

“Er…” Lili didn’t know how to answer that. It felt like a trick question.

Dumbledore sighed and sat down at his desk. He gestured to the seat in front of it. “Please sit, Lili.”

She sat.

He folded his hands on the table. “So, you found the source of the mysterious cursed ice. You revealed a Vanished staircase, explored long forgotten corridors of the school, and broke an ancient curse many believed didn’t exist.” A twinkle came into his eye. “Allegedly, of course. I’m assuming you took Ben Copper with you? Professor Flitwick does nothing but rave about how good the boy is at Charms, how prodigal. And indeed, we technically couldn’t find any evidence that you, or any of your friends, had gone into the Cursed Vault.”

Surprise showed on Lili’s face for a second before she smoothed it over. She had been impressed with Ben’s charm work then, but he was good enough that Dumbledore, one of the most powerful wizards alive, couldn’t trace anything back to them? How powerful was Ben? What else could he be hiding?

“Yes, Mr. Copper has quite a talent there. And, if I could wager to guess, I would assume you also took Bill Weasley, Penny Haywood, and Rowan Khanna into the Cursed Vault too?”

Lili gaped at Dumbledore. How did he know?

He chuckled. “You’ve been hiding your expression well so far, but I see that surprised you.”

“How could you know that?” Lili asked. “If, of course, that’s true,” she added belatedly. Best not to totally incriminate herself and her friends.

“We professors overhear much more than you students think. I like to think I’m as informed on Hogwarts gossip as Ms. Haywood.”

Lili blinked. “I’m sure Penny would love to hear that.”

Dumbledore chuckled again before turning serious. “Last time we met, you mentioned having visions, and you seemed to have another one earlier this school year. Have you had any more?”

Lili looked away, which was probably an admission of guilt, but she didn’t care. She didn’t want to share anything with the Headmaster. She maybe could say out loud that Dumbledore wasn’t to blame for Jacob getting expelled and it was all her brother’s fault, but it was harder to internalize and believe that.

“Please answer my question, Lili. Do not make me ask it a second time.”

She looked back at the Headmaster. His previous façade of geniality had been dropped and he looked almost annoyed. Lili slumped in her seat.

“Jacob’s visions don’t have anything to do with you.” There. An answer.

“Jacob?” Bloody hell, she was stupid. She didn’t want to give any information to the Headmaster and then immediately told him Jacob was involved somehow. Being in Dumbledore’s presence always confused her so much.

Dumbledore stroked his beard. “Interesting. That explains quite a few things, yes…”

A silence came between them as Dumbledore contemplated that information. Lili wanted to ask if she could leave, but she felt as if she had already used up the allotted amount of blunt questions.

The Headmaster shifted in his chair. “Well, I believe this meeting has gone on long enough. I believe we’ve both learned many things from this conversation.”

Lili had learned something? She tried to nod like she did. She wanted to leave.

“And,” Dumbledore continued amiably, “I think I will reward sixty house points to both Slytherin and Gryffindor, and thirty to Hufflepuff. It was very dangerous of you five to go into the Cursed Vaults, but you did rid Hogwarts of a threat that even I couldn’t defeat. That must be rewarded.”

He gazed down at a shocked Lili over his half-moon glasses. “Of course, the real reward would be you and your friends realizing that you don’t need to go looking for anymore Cursed Vaults and leaving the search for them—and the search for Jacob—to me and the other professors.”

“Of course,” Lili mumbled.

“I hope that the next time I see you in my office Lili, that it’s for academic achievements, and not for you misbehaving once more.” He stood up. “And now we both have stuff to do I believe. Have a good evening, Lili.”

-x-x-x-

Lili, of course, told Rowan everything that happened the second she got back to her dorm, and they were puzzled about the conversation together. Rowan was delighted to hear that they weren’t in trouble, and in fact gained house points, but she wasn’t sure about anything else said in the conversation either.

Lili decided to put the conversation out of her mind for now. Dumbledore was too cryptic for her and she didn’t want to spend the rest of her school year obsessing over something he said. It was bad enough having to speak to him once, she didn’t want to spend every waking moment replaying the conversation.

And so, the school year that started with a bang ended with a whimper. Nothing major happened, except the usual things that always popped up around exam time. Kids getting busted for using Self-Writing Quills, or going to see Madam Pomfrey for exam-related breakdowns.

Lili tried to study the notebook, but it didn’t make much sense. She tried to explore Hogwarts to find her brother’s room, but she didn’t have the vaguest idea where it could be.

“Well, you remember I bought a bunch of books about hidden spots at Hogwarts last summer. I’ll reread all of those and see if I can find any areas that are still abandoned and might hide his room.” Rowan told her as they trundled home on the Hogwarts Express.

Lili nodded. “You’re the best, Rowan.”

Rowan beamed. “Thank you.” Her smile dimmed. “I won’t be able to send any letters though.”

“What? Why not?”

Rowan bounced in her seat. “The Quidditch World Cup! I get to go to almost every game with my uncle!”

“They have a world cup for Quidditch?” Ben looked away from the window, perplexed.

Rowan nodded. “And there’s always a bunch of vendors outside the matches and all sorts of people from all around the world show up, so my uncle, who makes custom brooms you remember, tries to go to as many matches as possible to get customers. And he’s taking me with him this year!”

Her best friend continued to ramble on about Quidditch to a confused Ben while Lili looked out the window.

She didn’t feel a euphoria going into the summer like she had last year. There were too many questions to be that happy. But she felt more balanced this time. She had broken a curse and found her brother’s wand. That was something to be proud of. Rowan would research Hogwarts once more, and Lili knew they would find her brother’s hideaway. She would find her brother. Lili knew she would.

She had to prove everyone wrong.


End file.
